To Love is to Hate
by 99writtenwords
Summary: Katara - a rebellious, boy-hating sister is the blockage for Toph's ability to date. In Aang's attempt to win Toph, a potential boyfriend desperately attempts to set Katara up with Zuko, another rebel who may just be able to win Kat's heart. Zutara/Tokka.
1. Welcome to White Lotus Hell

"To Love is to Hate" is based on Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith's written screenplay of "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) which is loosely based on "Taming of the Shrew", by William Shakespeare. I own nothing of the transcription – just the conversion. I do not own Nickelodeon's characters, nor do I wish to. I could never make such amazing awesomeness like Mike & Bryan did anyhow…well, maybe I could, but I won't go there.

**水土火气 水土火气 水土火气 水土火气**

A bright day – full of flocculent clouds roaming in the soft blue skies, a sun blazing through the bulk of the clouds as the muggy sweat perspiring from 17-year-old male athletes fragranced the atmosphere from their early morning jog. Certainly, a bright day would occur in appearance, but for some, one bright day would be determined as a dark one in the shallow halls of White Lotus High – a typical upper-middle-ring high school in the United Four Nations.

"Spirits, like, I love this song, _'Secret Tunnel'_, because it's like the hottest thing in like, this century," squealed a light-haired cookie-cutter-cute girl, as a similar looking girl beside her nodded in agreement. Both were packed in a claustrophobically small yellow mobile, their heads nearly touching as they swayed to the latest update in pop culture. They bounced and hollered in their seats as they each took turns at pressing the repeat button in hopes of satisfying their love for 'the Nomads' newest hit. For many, this craze over a new sensation would seem ordinary, but to a girl who lacked any interest in teen trends, this would have only been seen as bizarre or simply absurd.

In a rusted blue convertible, Katara drove steadily with a deep scowl of indignation incised onto her face as she passed the two girls in utter disgust. With jerk actions, she parked the rundown vehicle beside Jet's white sports car, before getting out of the car and slamming the dented door behind her. Sucking in a loud breath, she strode swiftly up the steps to White Lotus High School and paused at the massive steel doors before her. At once, this school was under the regal domain of Katara Yamaguchi- the best Waterbender in school- but now, it all seemed like a delirious joke now, as did adolescence.

Impulsively, her eyes travelled to the dark-haired jerk that leaned against his white sports car while making conversation with his nutbrained cohort. After a satisfied amount of time, Katara rolled her eyes in abhorrence as she pushed her arms against the heavy doors of White Lotus High to step into the regular chaos around her. Katara's scowl deepened as she approached another cookie-cutter-girl who was pasting an advert for the upcoming prom on the wall. Callously, she ripped the advert down from the wall and continued striding down the school hall.

"Hey!" the girl exclaimed when she realized one prom poster had gone down.

**水土火气 水土火气 水土火气 水土火气**

Slamming her pocket notebook shut, Mrs. Wu looked up from the lines of her racy pulp romance-novel-in-progress and adjusted the stance of her glasses. The surprise in her eyes turned cold and wearied when she noticed it was the new kid who was expected to arrive today. Quickly, her hands grabbed for his transcript as he moved closer towards the clunky desk scattered with tattered old documents.

"So, Aang Yoshida. Here you go," she said as her eyes dawdled over his transcript. "9 schools in 10 years? My, my…Army brat?"

Aang shifted uncomfortably onto his stronger leg as he nodded and replied, "Yeah. My guardian's a -"

"That's enough. I'm sure you won't find White Lotus any different than your old school. Same little asswipe shit-for-brains everywhere," stated Miss Wu as her hands moved fiercely over the computer's keyboard beside her.

Aang froze at the guidance counsellor's loutish language and contorted his face in confusion. "Excuse me. Did you just say - Am I in the right office?"

She stared at the boy as if he was the dumbest babe on the planet. "Not anymore you're not. I've got deviants to see and a novel to finish. Now scoot. Scoot!" she demanded as her hands dismissed him away in annoyance.

Aang stared wide-eyed and mumbled, "Okay. Thanks," as he opened the door, passing a senior with dark dishevelled hair and a cigarette in his mouth. Aang continued to walk out the office's door but yelped in surprise when the same cigarette hit against his back. He grumbled quickly under his breath before recovering back to his sanguine self.

Miss Wu looked down at her file and then back up at the dark-haired male who slammed the door behind him and crashed down onto a hard wooden seat across from the desk. He stretched his neck insentiently as his mind wandered to the thought of him lighting up a new cigarette and then throwing it into her coffee cup while she gave him one of her useless death glares.

She leaned back in her seat and smirked. "Zuko Yamazaki. I see we're making our visits a weekly ritual," Miss Wu stated as her eyes fixed on him to give a disapproving glare.

He answered with a charming smile and said, "Only so we can have these moments together. Should I, uh, get the lights?"

Miss Wu's fingers curled around a pencil as she tapped it against the desk while shaking her round head. "Oh very clever, fire boy. Says here you exposed yourself in the cafeteria?" she questioned, her eyebrow slowly rising into an inquisitive arch.

He laughed at the memory and casually replied, "I was joking with the lunch lady. It was a bratwurst."

"Bratwurst?" She stared at him indifferently and then allowed her eyes to travel to his loins suspiciously. "Aren't we the optimist? Next time, keep it in your pants, okay? Scoot!"

He nodded obediently with a faint grin on his face as he leapt off the hard chair and dallied out the guidance office. After the door had shut closed, Miss Wu opened her pocket notebook and added the word "bratwurst" to an unfinished sentence of her novel.

**水土火气 水土火气 水土火气 水土火气**

Sokka's gaze loitered from left to right in an attempt at finding a lost kid, who looked a lot like himself when he enrolled at White Lotus. He was never above the ranking of _"videogame nerd"_ at White Lotus High School, even with both his sisters being the high goddesses of the school. Though, it was more like one sister, than the other now. His twin sister Katara was once the "idol" of White Lotus, but after a few incidents, she became cold and reserved. Sokka's gaze rested on a boy with one sheet of paper in hand and a baffled expression on his face. _This had to be the kid_, thought Sokka, as he placed a dark set of glasses over his eyes and dallied towards the confused teenage boy. "Hey, the name's Sokka. I'm supposed to show you around," Sokka said as he planted a welcoming smile on his face.

"Oh hi," Aang breathed in utter relief. "Thank the Spirits! You know, normally they send down one of those audio or video geeks."

Sokka flushed, and flustered he replied, "You know, I do. I know what you mean, yeah," as his best friend, Teo approached him with a cart of film equipment rolls.

"Hey, Sokka, where should I put those slides?" Teo asked as he lifted his gloved hand to raise the goggles over his eyes. The scraggy boy glanced between Aang and Sokka before allowing a broad smile to appear on his skin-infected face.

Embarrassed, Sokka ignored Teo's inquiry and pretended to call out for another, "Sokka," before turning back to Aang. "So, uh, Aang – here's the breakdown!" Sokka quickly lead Aang away from Teo and towards a group of muscular males and jubilant cheerleaders. Sokka pointed to the group as Aang slowly followed Sokka's gaze. "Over there you've got your basic beautiful people. Now listen. Unless they talk to you first, don't bother."

"But wait. Is that your rule or theirs?" asked Aang in confusion as one of the muscular males dug a whole into the ground and shaped a heart of rock, for a girl standing nearby. The girl swooned in delight as she planted a wet kiss on the Earthbender's mouth – he didn't seem quite surprised.

"Watch," said Sokka as he approached one of the muscular males. "Hey there!"

"Wimp," the Earthbender spat as he turned his attention to a cheerleader with a tight ponytail and a tight smile across her face.

Smugly, Sokka strolled back to Aang and whispered, "See that? Don't worry, that's nothing. Let's head outside."

Aang nodded compliantly and they strode outside into the midst of more anarchy. The whole school looked as if it was separated into smaller groups, everyone divided from one another. At Aang's old school, this was not the usual; everyone was quite equal with the other. Sokka and Aang continued their journey of White Lotus High School, and the more Aang saw of this school, the more his perception of White Lotus began to change.

Sokka gestured to a group of teens running and rolling across the fields outside. "To the left, we have the tea-loving kids," stated Sokka, as one of the tea-lovers spilled a cup of tea.

"Whoa!" a tea-lover declared.

"That was Ginseng, butthead!" another tea-loving guy replied, in obvious rage.

"Very edgy. Don't make any sudden movements around them," warned Sokka as we passed a group of Earth Kingdom guys with heavy parkas and thick braids in their hair. "And these delusionals are the Watertribe Wannabes. Uh, they're big Tui and La fans. They think they're Watertribe. Semi-political, but mostly-"

"Eat a lot of meat?" interrupted Aang as he gave a sideways glance at the Watertribe Wannabes in bewilderment.

"Yeah. Oh, now these guys-"

"Wait, wait. Let me guess. Sandbenders?" thought Aang as he received an approved nod from Sokka at the losers who attached plastic bags of sand to their clothing and walked around, spitting at people's feet all day.

"Yeah, but the closest they've come to a desert is Miss Wu's empty womb. Hah hah...empty womb!" Sokka said, laughing at his lame joke as they continued their stroll towards a group of studious-looking teens who were bent over a bundle of textbooks spread over a small table. "Now these are your future MBAs - We're all Dai Li League accepted. Yuppie greed is back, my friend. Hey guys. How ya doin'?"

"Duke," someone muttered from the group as Aang raised a sharp eyebrow and Sokka turned to walk away from the subtle-speaking group of twelve.

"Yesterday, _I_ was their Avatar," Sokka stated morosely as he rolled his eyes and clutched onto his sharp boomerang. They blurred past other cliques as they were reaching the school entrance again.

"What happened?" asked Aang, in slight interest as they paused in their tour.

Sokka grumbled incoherently and in a louder voice, said, "The Duke started a rumour that I...that I buy my weapons at an outlet mall," Sokka answered painfully as he let go of his clutch on the boomerang and began walking again.

"So they kicked you out?"

Sokka nodded vigilantly, "Hostile takeover. But don't worry. They'll pay." Sokka's gaze turned to a group of quasi-Kyoshi warriors, but Aang's gaze was rested on a dark-haired girl dressed in green.

"Oh my Spirits!" gasped Aang, disbelieving the reality of the girl dressed in shades of green. At a loss for words, he choked out, "What group is _she_ in?"

Immediately, Sokka turned his gaze and replied, "The "don't even think about it" group. That's Toph – a sophomore…a-and she's also my baby sister. So don't even think about it!"

Aang looked at him in incredulity as his hands rose above his head and he exclaimed, "I burn! I pine! I perish!"

"Of course you do. You know, she's beautiful and deep. Pure. My father wouldn't dare let you near her. Even if I would, she's not allowed to date anyone."

Toph's hair was organized into two buns with her bangs dangling over her forehead as she strolled beside her best friend, Jin, a cute and seemingly less loquacious version of herself. Toph adjusted her pea green skirt, as she continued her discussion with Jin, "Yup, see, there's a difference between 'like' and 'love'. Because I like my shoes, but I love my rocks – it helps me see well, you know."

"But I love my shoes," countered Jin in defiance as her finger twirled on a soft lock of brown hair.

"But that's because you're not blind, and you don't know how to Earthbend," Toph reminded logically as her hand moved to touch the emerald pendant at her neckline.

"Ohhh!" responded Jin, in sheer fascination.

**水土火气 水土火气 水土火气 水土火气**

"Okay then. What did everyone think of _The Sun Also Rises_?" questioned Mr. Pakku, to the useless class of bored seniors who doodled and stared off into space.

Without hesitation, Ty Lee raised her hand to offer her appraisal. "I loved it!" she sighed. "It was sooo romantic."

Katara made a noise of disgust and opposed, "Ugh. Romantic? Hemingway? He was an abusive alcoholic misogynist who squandered half his life hanging around Picasso trying to nail his leftovers."

The class groaned at the typical answer of Katara who seemed fixed on her pessimistic views on almost anything. She sat upright in her seat, her hair a pleasant shade of brown, which was currently clipped high into a bun and her eyes, a cerulean blue which twinkled at the rarest of times. Many perceived her as stunning and remote. At times, she could be both those things, but never in her own attempt. When she closed the door to her washroom, instead of spending hours prettying herself, she spent them with hours of strategies to make her as unattractive as possible…but apparently, it wasn't working. Katara decided her best weapon would be her choice of words, and how she could use them to her advantage, to protect those delicate feelings that she tries so hard to shelter.

Jet choked on laughter and replied, "As opposed to a bitter self-righteous hag who has no friends?"

Half the class giggled at the truth of the statement as Katara fumed in her seat, her eyes blazing in annoyance. Her foot stamped hard against the ground as her fingers twitched for a source of water.

"Pipe down, chachie," cautioned Mr. Pakku as his gaze went back to Katara.

Katara shook her head, smirked and said, "I guess in this society being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time. What about Ummi or Oma or Avatar Kuruk?"

The door slammed open, and Zuko walked in with a pair of shades in his hand and a pack of cigarettes in the other. "What'd I miss?"

Katara shrugged and replied, "The oppressive patriarchal values that dictate our education."

He stared at her blankly before muttering, "Good," and turning on his heal towards the door's exit. Mr. Pakku blinked quietly at Zuko's vacant desire for an education.

"Uh, Mr. Pakku. Is there any chance we could get Kat to take her Midol before she comes to class?" sneered Jet from the back of the room as a few members of the class laughed.

Mr. Pakku's face stayed solid as he stood at the front of the room, his face unreadable. "Someday you're gonna get bitch-slapped and I'm not gonna do a thing to stop it. And Katara. I want to thank you for your point of view."

A small grin cornered at Katara's lips at having her social indignation justified, but it faltered just as quickly when Mr. Pakku continued, "I know how difficult it must be for you to overcome all those years of upper middle class suburban oppression. It must be tough. But the next time you storm around the PTA crusading for better lunch meat, or whatever it is you Southern Watertribe girls complain about, ask them why they can't buy a good Waterbending scroll written by a Northern Watertribe man!"

"That's right, Sifu Pakku!" two of the Watertribe Wannabes chorused as Mr. Pakku sent a deadly glare at the two boys.

"Don't even get me started on you two!" snapped Mr. Pakku, as they both apologized softly and Katara's temper vitalized into pure outrage.

"Anything else?" challenged Katara as she peered intently at the elder teacher's stern expression.

He paused in thought and then stated, "Yeah. Go to the office. You're pissing me off."

At his sudden request, she cried, "What? Mr. Pakku!"

He turned his back on her and looked at the chalkboard, before saving a sideways glance and a sporadic smirk for her. "Later!"

In a tiff, Katara stood to her feet, placing the strap of her messenger back over her shoulder and as she passed Jet, her hands contorted discreetly, as the sudden movement _froze_ him still. Mr. Pakku's eyes widened in anger and horror as the chalk in his hand dropped from his fingers. "Don't worry, Mr. Pakku. The ice will wear off in a few hours. Later!"

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

Miss Wu's pocket notebook was opened before her as her dainty hand swept over the paper with words of sleazy nonsense. "Undulating with desire, Aluza removes her crimson cape...excitable, stiff and...Ugh-Joo Dee!" called Miss Wu as her attendant arrived at the entry of her office door. "What's another word for...engorged?"

Joo Dee's pasted smile firmed itself onto her face as she responded, "I'll look it up," and left out the door.

Miss Wu nodded in approval as she continued the writing of her erogenous novel. "Swollen...turgid... "

Katara loitered at the door as she heard Miss Wu searching for the right words to complete a sentence in her never-ending and sleazy romance. She walked in from the entry and suggested, "Tumescent?"

"Perfect!" muttered Miss Wu as she wrote it down and glanced up at Katara as she sat down onto the hard wooden chair. "So I hear you were terrorizing Mr. Pakku's class. Again."

"Expressing my opinion is not a terrorist action," stated Katara as she rubbed her tongue against the smooth coating of her teeth.

"The way you expressed your opinion to Rahn-Jian? By the way, his testicle retrieval operation went quite well, in case you're interested," she said as her eyes roamed over the words on the lines of a tiny notebook. "The point is Katara, is that people perceive you as somewhat-"

"Tempestuous?" she offered as her grip tightened on the wooden chair's arms.

Miss Wu leaned forward and placed her notebook down, stating, "'Heinous bitch' is the term used most often."

Katara's hands flew from the wooden chair and she cocked her head sideways with a blank expression. She rose stiffly from the chair and walked towards the exit of the office.

"You might want to work on that. Thank you," recommended Miss Wu as she returned her attention to the pocket notebook and the novel within it.

Katara rested her hand on the knob of the door and said, "As always, thank you for your excellent guidance. I'll let you get back to your character's quivering member." The door shut behind Katara with a loud thud, leaving Miss Wu to abrupt silence.

"Hmm… Quivering member... I like that."

* * *

**Author's Note: **First chapter complete! Did you or did you not enjoy? Questions that need answers to. How about you leave them in a short review?

Character Profiles

**Katara (Kat) Yamaguchi**– seventeen, senior year of high school. Pretty, but not out of effort. Sarcasm seems to be her only friend who's not freaked silly by her repelling insolence. Her defense – a shield of ice to protect from oncoming attacks is not only visibly seen, but also impalpably, as it continues to protect her heart from what she fears most - betrayal.

**Aang Yoshida **- a preppy, peaceful, 15-year-old new kid at school with an optimistic, innocent face. Master of the Air element, he is determined and willing to meet new friends at W.L. High School.

**Miss Wu** – a guidance counsellor at White Lotus High, who is outspokenly bored of the erratic idea of high school and teenage students. She spends an unaccountable time of her life writing a novel, while figuring out what "highbrow" words she should use next.

**Zuko Yamazaki**– some call him scary and some say he's weary, but Zuko – the eighteen-year-old male with the questionable scar over half his face- knows who he is. A self-assured slacker, who was emancipated at the age of 14, leaving him as a reckless partyer with no responsibilities and a wealthy, yet unreachable inheritance; his Father is busy with the company, his sister is destroying some rich private school and the law is after him all in the cause of his reckless behaviour…his fun, free lifestyle seems to suck, especially with that rich inheritance being so far from his reach.

**Sokka Yamaguchi** – a typical overachieving, brainy and witty senior with a young democrat's sense of style, he is the brother to Katara.

**Suki Suzuki**– Katara's best friend, beautiful and attired in quasi-Kyoshi clothes – sensitive and cherishes a love for history.

**Toph Yamaguchi**– adopted by Katara and Sokka's parents at the age of six, she was a foster child who seemed to give trouble in every household she dwelled. A blind, dark haired, Earthbending beauty – she fights for her freedom…to date. Well, what other is a 15-year-old girl supposed to fight for?

**Jet Watanabe **– most popular guy in school? Definitely. The stupidest guy in school? Definitely. The 'cohort' who follows him is even stupider than the stupidest guy in school? Like, duh. Jet's a tough-looking senior, who uses his richness to bribe others. He's a model for a nose and eyebrow company – which apparently makes him even more popular and he has a prominent ego.

**Hakoda Yamaguchi **– Katara, Sokka and Toph's overly-protective father—an obstetrician.


	2. He's Perfect

"To Love is to Hate" is based on Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith's written screenplay of "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) which is loosely based on "Taming of the Shrew", by William Shakespeare. I own nothing of the transcription – just the conversion. I do not own Nickelodeon's characters, nor do I wish to. I could never make such amazing awesomeness like Mike & Bryan did anyhow…well, maybe I could, but I won't go there.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_The School Courtyard, White Lotus High_

Jet and his cohort stood rigidly around the expensive white sports car in their own secluded circle. Their eyes dawdled and dashed over both hot girls and insufficient losers during the painful lunch hour. Longshot's head whipped high when he saw White Lotus's door swinging open, revealing the two women of the hour. His eyes focused on the brunette who skipped half-heartedly down the school steps, as they entered the school's courtyard. Longshot nudged Jet to bring his undivided attention to the blind Earthbender, Toph.

Rahn-Jian hooted enthusiastically as the two girls inched closer towards the hankering males. "Virgin alert," declared Rahn-Jian as the grimace on Jet's face moulded into a tight grin. Toph and Jin walked by in their short skirts, barely saving a smile for the anxious males who held an unsatisfied interest for them.

"Looking good ladies," Jet regaled, leaving Jin to giggle softly with Toph as they continued their walk in the school's courtyard.

Hahn blew a soft whistle as they strolled away, his gaze sweeping under Toph's petite skirt. He shook his head remorsefully and stated, "They're outta reach, even for you."

Jet's eyes gleamed shortly as a slow smile stretched across his face. "No one's out of reach for me," he replied as his hands thoughtlessly fumbled with the keys to his car.

"You wanna put money on that?" countered Hahn as he lifted his gaze and placed a dark smirk on his face.

Jet's face cooled off of emotion and was replaced with a thick mask of fortitude. Shortly, he reminded, "Money I've got. This I'm going to do for fun," as he resolutely strode behind the two girls.

From a distance, Aang watched Jet stride towards Toph in blatant determination. Curiously, Aang asked, "Who's that guy?"

Sokka slurped loudly on his watermelon juice as he paused to make a disgusted grunt. "It's Jet Watanabe. He's a jerkoff. And a model."

"He's a model?" questioned Aang, as he bit out of a piece of lettuce and stretched his leg over the wooden bench.

Sokka stuttered on laughter as he nodded his head. "A model. Mostly regional stuff. But he's rumoured to have an eyebrow tweaking ad coming out."

At Jet's expense, they both laughed. Aang returned his infatuated gaze back to Toph as he breathed, "Man, _look_ at her." Toph was explaining an in-depth story as to why men exist, while Jin painted her toenails green.

Sokka rolled his eyes and yawned. "Dude, I see her every night and every morning. I can assure you that she can be quite vapid at times. Like right now."

Defensively, Aang retorted, "How can you say that? She's totally-"

"Futile?" Sokka offered, as he leapt off the wooden bench and threw the skin of the watermelon into the trash bin.

"What are you talking about? There's more to her than you think. I mean, look... look at the way she smiles. And look at her heart, man. She's totally pure. I mean, you're missing what's there."

"You sound ridiculous. She's my sister, I know her better than you or any of these meatheads could. I've watched her every fall and every rise. You don't know the life she's been through, or the heart she even has. She's young and beautiful…but she's not who you think she is," Sokka said as he watched Toph throw her head back, allowing gaudy giggles to escape her soft, pink lips. "She's putting herself in even more danger, she's not even…well equipped for any more drama than she's already had."

"What do you mean by that? She's gorgeous, perfect, and amazing. I'm sure she's well equipped for anything, in my opinion," affirmed Aang as he flinched at the sudden slap Sokka whipped against his back – a reminder as to whom Aang was talking about.

Bluntly, Sokka stated, "She's blind."

"But that doesn't-"

"Okay, I'm wrong that she isn't well equipped. You wanna find out for yourself? She's looking for someone to read the school textbooks to her. If you have the patience, and she doesn't find you frustrating…then, well, good luck. By the way, the textbooks are translated into _Al-duori_. Father ordered separate textbooks for my family; he feels we need to be more _comfortable_ with his native tongue."

"Seriously - she's looking for someone like that? I don't speak the language, but I could always learn." Aang smiled, revealing a full set of white teeth.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_School Parking Lot, White Lotus High_

Katara's antediluvian skirt reached infinitely to her bracelet-bounded ankles. The camouflaged-blue shirt she wore fastened on her curves as she walked alongside the quasi-Kyoshi apparelled Suki, whose brown eyes were subtle and guarded. As they sauntered towards Katara's blue, broken-down convertible – a white sports car gleamed beside them.

From the car, Jet shouted, "Hey! Your little Boho-Rambo look is out, Kat. Didn't you read last month's issue of Comet?"

"Run along, now," Katara endorsed as they reached the rusted door of her convertible. She wrenched the door open and slid into the driver's seat.

Jet rolled his eyes and seethed, relocating his gaze to the perky little breasts of a blind Earthbender in front of him. She was walking with that soft-headed Jin girl. Jet drove his car forward, inclining his ear to pick up their conversation.

"I know you can be overwhelmed. You can be underwhelmed. But can you ever just be whelmed?" Jin questioned, seeking the answer-of-the-day.

"I think you can in Gaoling," answered Toph as her regard staggered over to the white sports car beside them.

Dismissing their subject, Jet asked, "Hi ladies. Would you sweet young things like a ride?"

Jin glanced at Toph before quickly following Toph's actions by hopping in and climbing over his car's upholstery.

"Careful on the leather," cautioned Jet as he started the car's engine.

From inside Katara's clunk of metal, both her and Suki groaned in disgust at they watched the two girls be driven by a hormone-bound moron.

"That's a charming new development," Suki stated as she placed the satchel upon her knees.

"It's disgusting," growled Katara as she started the car's engine, driving it towards the school's exit. The car came to a rest at a traffic light, and Katara's gaze wandered to her brother- Sokka. He was mounting on an old motorcycle equipped with a plastic basket on the handles. The motorcycle jetted rampantly and killed at the hood of Katara's car. Katara's gaze softened at Sokka's immobile body resting in front of her car, but turned viciously cold when he slowly staggered back onto his feet.

Katara's eyes blazed before she stuck her head out the car's window and yelled, "What the fu-Sokka! Remove head from sphincter, then drive!" before she speedily drove home.

Sokka moaned lightly as he regained full control of the motorcycle and hauled it out of the way, towards Aang.

"You all right?" Aang asked as he watched Sokka struggle to mount back onto the motorcycle.

"Yeah, yeah. Just a minor encounter with the shrew. My other sister," Sokka groaned as he placed a helmet over his head and buckled it securely.

"What? _That's_ your twin sister? She sounds horrible," muttered Aang as he slightly shivered.

"Mmm hmm. The mewling, rampalian wretch herself. Stay cool, bro," Sokka said as he jetted off on his motorcycle, risking another near collision as he flew right off the road and slid halfway down a grassy hill.

Sokka recovered his composure quickly as he realized half the school was watching from on top of the hill. He grinned, raised his hands in the air and gave a victory yell, drawing a storm of cheers from the watching crowd.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_Living Room, Yamaguchi Estate_

Katara sat bored and all-procrastinated-out as she flipped to the 'table of contents' page of her junior year almanac. Her eyes scanned over the almanac's sections, neglecting the countless school textbooks that were sprawled out over the coffee table and the television set, which soundlessly blared, _The Sound of Tsungi Horns_. Katara pressed her head against the sofa's cushions as she turned to a random page of her junior year almanac to view a picture of Jet Watanabe and Zuko Yamaguchi.

Jet's dark hair was slicked back and he had a smug smile on his face, his eyes glittering haughtily. Zuko, whom she hadn't really confronted before, had no smile at all. Despite his expression, his golden eyes held a secret joke, which he himself knew only. He must think the _Day of Self-Portraits_ was as pointless as it sounded. Many students were cautious of Zuko, based on the infamous rumours spurring around. Some think he's a vampire, whereas others think it's more realistic to believe he's a porn star. Katara smiled at the gossip…it would be hilarious to search for porno videos online featuring himself.

Just as the thought occurred, her father, Hakoda, walked through the front door, while he rifled through the mail. "Hello Katara." He looked up at Katara seated on the couch and the almanac that she still held in hand. He raised an eyebrow before inquiring, "Make anyone cry today?"

"Sadly, no. But it's only four-thirty in the morning," Katara stated, as Toph walked towards Hakoda in her strait-laced nightgown and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hi Daddy," she said perkily with a light smile on her face.

"Hello, precious," responded Hakoda as his eyes wandered over the words of a letter in his hand.

"And where've you been?" asked Katara as she put the almanac down, watching Toph shrug absently as she stumbled onto the loveseat.

"Nowhere. Just asleep," she murmured as her hand smoothed the wrinkles of her silk nightgown.

"What's this? It says Whale Tail Island Academy?" enquired Hakoda, his eyebrows pulling closer together.

Katara scrambled to her feet in a flurry of excitement as she snatched the letter from her Father's clutch. Her eyes scanned over the letter's contents silently, before she exclaimed, "I got in! I got in!"

Hakoda scratched his head woozily and said, "Uh, honey that's great. But isn't Whale Tail Island Academy on the other side of the world?"

She smiled energetically as she stated, "Thus the basis of its appeal."

"Yeah. I thought we decided you were gonna stay here and go to Warrior Wolfs like Sokka. Be a husky," encouraged Hakoda, as Sokka appeared drowsily behind him, helping his Father create some inspiring growling noises – like a husky.

Katara wasn't impressed at all and she protested, "No, you decided."

"Oh okay. So you just pick up and leave, is that it?" asked Hakoda, as Sokka mouthed his exact words from behind him. Katara stuck her tongue out in irritation as she halted back.

"Let's hope so," cheered Toph, as Katara sent her a spiteful look before it was replaced by a twisted, sweet smile.

Katara turned to their father and smugly said, "Ask Toph who drove her home."

"Kat, don't change the...drove?" he queried, as his gaze switched to Toph's innocent smile. "Who drove you home?"

Toph sent a blind glare to Katara, as she answered, "Now don't get upset, daddy, but there's this boy..."

"Who's a flaming imbecile," helped Katara, as she walked over to her brother who was listening intently to the conversation.

Hakoda closed his eyes and begged, "Please."

"And I think he might ask me-"

His eyes shot wide open as he said, "Please. I think I know what he's going to ask you. And I think I know the answer - No. It's always no. What are the house rules? Number one, no dating till you graduate. Number two, no dating till you graduate. That's it."

"Daddy, that's so unfair," Toph moaned as she scowled at Katara's self-satisfied heartbeat.

He dropped his work case and crossed his arms. "Alright. You wanna know what's unfair?" he asked as he turned his gaze to Katara. "This is for you too. This morning I delivered a set of twins to a 15 year old girl. Do you know what she said to me?"

"I'm a crack-whore who should have made my sleazy douche wear a condom?" offered Sokka as he stood on the sidelines, great humour etched onto his face.

"Close. But no. She said - I should have listened to my father."

"Lies. She did not," retorted Toph as she stomped her feet in grave annoyance.

Hakoda shrugged and replied. "Well, that's what she would've said if she wasn't so doped up."

Toph sighed heavily and grumbled, "Can we focus on me for a second please? I am the only girl in school who's not dating. A-And how come Sokka's allowed to date?"

"If _Sokka_ was a girl, with all those extra features, then he wouldn't be allowed to date either. And anyways, your sister doesn't date," stated Hakoda as Katara nodded in humour.

"And I don't intend to," added Katara.

"And why is that again?" questioned Hakoda, as he placed a pleased smile on his face at the justification Katara would give to his reasoning.

Katara groaned in disgust, "Have you seen the unwashed miscreants that go to that school?"

"Where did you come from? Planet Loser?" Toph spat as she deepened her cold glare.

Katara snorted and countered, "As opposed to planet _"Look at me! Look at me!"?"_ Sokka laughed shortly, but was stopped by the sharp glance Katara gave him.

"Okay here's how we solve this one. Old rule out. New rule -Toph can date," stated Hakoda as both sisters shared conflicting emotions of anger and gratitude. Hakoda paused and pointed to Katara, "When she does."

Sokka guffawed loudly as he watched Toph turn dark red to purple. "But she's a mutant! What if she never dates?"

Hakoda smiled in pleasure as he answered, "Then you'll never date. _Oh_, I like that. And I'll get to sleep at night. The deep slumber of a father whose daughters aren't out being impregnated. Hmm, I'm a genius, aren't I?"

His alarm for a baby delivery beeped and he headed for the door as Katara pounded up the stairs. "We'll talk about Whale Tail Island Academy later."

"Fine," yelled Katara from atop the staircase.

"Wait! Daddy!" called Toph as the door slammed behind Hakoda. She turned to Katara in fierce anger as she snapped, "Can't you find a sad enough retard to take you to the movies so I can have just one date?"

Unmoved, Katara replied, "I'm sorry. Looks like you'll just have to miss out on the witty repartee of Jet _"eat me"_ Watanabe."

"You suck!" screamed Toph.

"You suck!" imitated Katara as Toph fumed pass Sokka, who was chewing on blue fire gummies.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_The Great Library, White Lotus High_

Aang opened a bag of leechi nuts as he prepped for the scheduled reading he had with Toph. The chair beside him screeched slightly as Aang's mouth gaped at the dark-haired beauty that plopped down onto the chair, beside him.

She groaned and asked, "Can we make this quick? Jun, On Ji and Haru are having an incredibly horrendous public break-up on the quad. Again."

"Oh, yeah, um, okay. I thought we'd start with History, if that's alright with you," murmured Aang.

"Not the stuff about, Avatar _this and that_, and how all Earthbenders came from huge furry animals who roamed in caves all their lives. Please," Toph beseeched as she toyed with a necklace at her throat.

"Well, there is an alternative. Earth Kingdom cuisine. We could eat some together. Saturday night?" asked Aang nervously as he flushed silently.

"You're asking me out? That's so cute. What's your name again?" inquired Toph as her leg crossed over the other.

He smiled and answered, "Aang. Listen. I know that your dad doesn't let you date. But I thought that if I was reading the school textbooks-"

Toph bit her lip diffidently and interrupted, "Oh, wait a minute. Ann-"

"Aang," he corrected.

"My dad just came up with a new rule. I can date when my sister does," murmured Toph as she bent her head low in the absolute impossibility of the matter.

Aang beamed and exclaimed, "You're kidding! Well let me ask you, do you like bison-back riding? 'Cause I read about this place that rents out flying bisons-"

"A beaucoup problemo, Andy. In case you haven't heard, my sister's a particularly hideous breed of loser," grumbled Toph as she leaned back against her seat in defeat.

Aang nodded as he replied, "Yeah, yeah. I noticed she's a little anti-social. Why is that?"

A loud sigh flew from Toph's lips as she sat upright in her chair. "Unsolved mystery. She used to be really popular, and then it was like...she got sick of it. Or something. There is a bet as to why, but I'm pretty sure she's just incapable of human interaction. Plus, she's a bitch."

"Well yeah, but I'm sure, you know, that there's lots of guys who wouldn't mind going out with a...difficult woman. I mean, you know, people jump of sky bisons, let go of gliders in midair. It would be like extreme dating," stated Aang as he closed the opened textbooks before him.

"You think you could find someone that extreme?" Toph asked softly as she reached out to touch his arm. "Would you do that, for me?"

Aang was speechless. Toph Yamaguchi had just touched him. He stuttered a reply back quickly, "Oh yes! I mean, you know, I could look into it."

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_The Grande Stairwell, White Lotus High_

Sokka had contemplated as to whether he should aid Aang in this little expedition to find Katara a new boyfriend. After a long period of calculations, he agreed, and gathered dating candidates to a secret room in White Lotus High. Aang followed Sokka discreetly down a set of solid concrete steps until they reached a wooden door.

Before entering, Sokka turned to Aang, "Now, I have gathered a group of guys. Couldn't be more perfect. White Lotus's finest."

They entered the dank room, wherein waited a very motley crew of the most unlikely specimens' one would expect. Aang shot Sokka an unsatisfied grimace before turning to the candidates before him. He grinned and asked, "Hi. How ya doin'? Would any of you be interested in dating Katara Yamaguchi?"

One candidate laughed hysterically, whereas another simply stared wide-eyed, complete inane. An orange-haired candidate chortled, "Ho, I've never been that ripped," and a green-haired male with spikes all over his head stated, "Maybe if we were the last 2 people alive, and there were no sheep... Are there sheep?"

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_Biology Lab, White Lotus High_

The biology lab was dimmed with fluorescent green lights, hitting each corner of the room. The subtle movement of the lab was limited, as the class was participating in the dissection of lifeless frogs. Aang and Sokka were paired up over a frog as they awaited the frozen frog to twitch in distress. Behind them, Zuko and his Firebending friend, Seth, were hacking away at their own little specimen.

"Did I, or did I not, tell you it was pointless? No one will go out with my sister," Sokka stated as he poked at the frog experimentally.

Aang's gaze wandered around the room distantly, taking in the display of Zuko pulling out a butterfly knife and impaling the frog violently with it. "Hey, what about him?"

Sokka followed Aang's locked gaze and raised an eyebrow sharply before loudly exhaling, "Him? No, no. Don't look at him, okay? He's a criminal. I heard he lit a provincial trooper on fire. He just did a year at the Boiling Rock."

"Yeah, well, then at least he's horny," stated Aang as his eyes moved to the immobile frog.

"I'm serious, man, he's whacked. He sold his own liver on the black market for a new set of speakers," muttered Sokka as they turned their gaze back on him. He took out a cigarette, and as he flicked a flame between two fingers to light the cigarette, Seth seized it and snuffed it out. In frustration, Zuko played with the little flame between his fingers, making it bigger as he juggled it in his hands.

"He's our guy," murmured Aang. Zuko noticed them looking at him and they quickly turned back to the non-dichotomized frog.

**

* * *

Author's Note:** Oh. It ends just like that, eh? Well, yes, the plot is arising! Zuko is coming into scene, and very soon, we'll start to see his character take main spotlight…and his seductive methods to lure Katara into his life sentencing trap. Beware…Be ready…and Enjoy. Review for a sneak peak of the next chapter.


	3. The Way You Talk to Me

"To Love is to Hate" is based on Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith's written screenplay of "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) which is loosely based on "Taming of the Shrew", by William Shakespeare. I own nothing of the transcription – just the conversion. I do not own Nickelodeon's characters, nor do I wish to. I could never make such amazing awesomeness like Mike & Bryan did anyhow…well, maybe I could, but I won't go there.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_The Weapons shop, White Lotus High_

"Okay, I just hacked Zuko's schedule and it appears, that he can be found in the Weapons shop this period," stated Sokka as they lingered outside the door of the Weapons shop. Through the door's window, a tall figure with dark hair sat beside a precarious machine with a power tool in hand. Sokka smirked as he pointed to the male and opened the shop's door, shoving Aang inside.

Aang scrambled across the room towards Zuko, rearranging his expression to an optimistic one. "Hi. How ya doin'? Listen, I-"

Uninterested at the sound of someone speaking to him, Zuko brandished the loud power tool and drilled a deep hole into the middle of Aang's beloved _Al Duori for Dummies_ learning book. Aang stopped mid-sentence and cringed at Zuko's sudden action.

"Okay... later then," muttered Aang as he seized his damaged book and sprinted out the shop's door. Sokka approached him, his eyes widening at the new hole in Aang's book.

Sokka's head shook twice as he groaned, "How do we get him to date Kat?"

"I don't know. I mean, uh, we could pay him. But we don't have any money," answered Aang, as he inspected the new window in his book too.

The idea planted itself in Sokka's mind pensively as he whispered, "Yeah, well, what we need is a _backer_."

"What's that?" asked Aang, allowing a full brown eyebrow to raise high on his wondering face as he moved his gaze to Sokka.

Sokka turned his full gaze to Aang and answered, "Someone with money who's stupid."

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_The Cafeteria, White Lotus High_

In the cafeteria of White Lotus High, the tables divided into the stereotypical cliques that many categorized themselves into. Aang stood mesmerized at the great division in one school. A school banner printed its name across the walls, as girls continued to paste prom posters to the cafeteria's doors and males piled up food on their cafeteria trays. With 500 students in one cafeteria, it became more like a school hallway than a place to eat. Aang bit into an apple patiently as his eyes wandered, in search for his new friend, Sokka.

Jet sat with a magic marker in hand as he drew a pair of boobs on the cafeteria's lunch tray. His cohort sat around him as he leaned back to examine his work of art, "Oh yeah!"

A chair screeched, declaring Sokka's arrival as he casually sat down and asked, "Is that a purple berry Fruit Roll-Up? 'Cause you don't see many-" Rahn-Jian grabbed Sokka's wrist as he attempted at reaching the unusual Fruit Roll-Up. Unfazed, Sokka continued, "Oh, okay. Yeah, alright," as he withdrew his hand from Rahn-Jian's strong grip.

Jet rested his elbows on the lunch and leaned forward with a blank expression on his face. Quietly, he asked, "Are you lost?"

"No, actually, I just came by to chat," Sokka promptly replied, as he released some hidden chuckles.

"We don't chat," muttered Jet, in an irritated tone.

Sokka bit his bottom lip and continued, "Well, actually, I thought that I'd run an idea by you. Just to see if you're interested."

Jet rolled his eyes and fumbled with the magic marker, "I'm not."

Sokka stood to his feet and ambled over to where Jet sat. "Well, hear me out. Now-"

Jet grabbed Sokka by the side of his head and decided to draw a penis on his left cheek with the magic marker. Sokka suffered the indignity and undauntedly continued, "You want Toph, right? But she can't go out with you because our sister is this insane head case and no one will go out with her, right?"

"Does this conversation have a purpose?" grumbled Jet as he added details to his drawing.

"What I think you need to do is- you need to hire a guy who'll go out with her. Someone who doesn't scare so easy," advised Sokka as he pointed to Zuko, who sat next to Seth. Zuko spat a stone from a piece of fruit at his tray.

"That guy? I heard he ate a live turtle-duck once," murmured Jet as he pulled back to inspect his finished cheek work.

Sokka shrugged and replied, "Everything but the beak and the feet. Clearly he's a solid investment."

Jet turned his gaze to Sokka curiously and asked, "What's in it for you?"

"Hey. I'm walkin' down the hall and say hello to you. You say hello to me," suggested Sokka as he crossed his arms at his ingenuity.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. You're cool by association. I'll think about it," Jet replied as he disgustedly watched Sokka bob his head as if grooving to some sort of inaudible music. "We're done now."

"Yeah," said Sokka as he turned on his heel towards the back of the room, where Aang waited anxiously between the numerous clumps of cliques.

Aang's expression was upset as he exclaimed, "What are you doing getting him involved?"

"Relax now, relax. We let him pretend he's calling the shots. While he's setting things up, you have time with Toph."

Aang thought it over before saying, "That _is_ a good idea."

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_The Bending/Artillery Stadium, White Lotus High_

A group of so-called future yuppies were engulfed by a swords lesson, taught by The Duke – their group-proclaimed Avatar. "Now remember guys. Extend it, and stab it," stated The Duke as he fortuitously stabbed a sharp sword into a future yuppie's thigh, creating a spine-tingling cry from the scraggy teen.

On the stadium's field, the women's Waterbending team was practising. Their hands formed lethal attacks that whipped and gnashed through the skin of their opponent's. Katara performed her routine mercilessly as she carelessly smacked hard against a girl next to her.

Jet displaced his gaze from the lethality of Katara as he made his way towards Zuko on the sidelines, who sat with a cigarette in his mouth while faintly conversing with Seth.

"Hey, how ya doin'?" greeted Jet, receiving a silent reply from Zuko. "I had some great roast duck last night-"

"Do I know you?" questioned Zuko, exhaustion seeping into his voice as he barely gave a glance at Jet.

Ignoring his question, Jet pointed to Katara on the field and leaned forward, "See that girl?"

Zuko turned to look at the girl with disinterest, "Yeah."

"That's Katara Yamaguchi. I want you to go out with her," stated Jet as he watched a slow smile set on Zuko's face.

"Yeah sure, Sparkly," Zuko muttered, as he and Seth laughed privately at the idea.

Jet's confidence melted at being defied as he ran a hand through his hair and continued, "Look. I can't take out her sister until Katara starts dating. You see, their dad's whacked out. He's got this rule where the girls-"

"That's a touching story. It really is. Not my problem," murmured Zuko as he flicked a flame of fire between his fingers and lit up three cigarettes at once, stuffing them into his mouth.

"Would you be willing to make it your problem if I provide generous compensation?" Jet asked.

"You're going to pay me to take out some chick?" grilled Zuko.

"Mmm hmm," crooned Jet, in new satisfaction.

"How much?" Zuko inquired as he turned his full gaze to Jet, spitting out two cigarettes from his mouth.

"Twenty bucks," stated Jet, as Zuko turned to look at Katara violently body check another girl and knock her down. "Fine, thirty."

Zuko grinned, yet his eyes held no spark of interest. "Well let's think about this. We go to the movies. That's, uh, fifteen bucks. We get fire flakes. That's, uh, fifty-three. And, uh, she'll want fire gummies, right? So, uh, we're lookin' at seventy-five bucks."

Jet's amusement faltered as he spat, "This ain't a negotiation. Take it or leave it, _Scarface_."

"Fifty bucks and we've got a deal, Fabio," Zuko replied as he took the fifty Jet handed him. Zuko moved his gaze to Katara and the rest of the team who were completing their practise session. The team broke up, and Katara jogged off the field to retrieve her bag. He snuffed out his single cigarette and moved forward to approach her. "Hey there, girlie. How ya doin'?"

Katara glanced at him quickly before replying, "Sweating like a hog-monkey, actually. And yourself?"

"Now there's a way to get a guy's attention, huh?" he muttered, as his stare fixed onto her unusual blue eyes. With her fierce exterior, her crystal clear blue eyes softened her normal façade.

"My mission in life," responded Katara as she undauntedly stood there, a hand on her hip. "But obviously I've struck your fancy. So, you see, it worked. The world makes sense again." She turned from him towards the stadium's exit.

Zuko followed her lead and walked right up behind her. Leaning in towards her ear, he murmured, "Pick you up Friday, then."

Katara flinched at the proximity and the heat that spread over her cheeks at feeling his warm breath contradict itself against her cool skin. Recomposing her expression, she rolled her eyes and replied, "Oh, right. Friday. Uh-huh," as she picked up her pace.

"The night I take you to places you've never been before," stated Zuko confidently as he moved to stride aside her.

Katara made a sound of disgust, "Like where? The 7-Eleven on Broadway? Do you even know my name, screwboy?"

"I know a lot more than you think," stated Zuko as his levelled breathing changed pace with her unbelievably quick stride.

Katara shook her head and exclaimed, "Doubtful. Very doubtful," as she walked away, leaving him to stand alone.

Aang watched hopelessly as he groaned at Zuko's failure to capture her interest. "We are screwed."

"Hey, no, hey. I don't want to hear that defeatist attitude. I want to hear you upbeat," Sokka said as their gaze switched to The Duke holding a sword without tuition and accidentally smacking the blade into the Waterbending coach nearby.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_Bathroom, The Yamaguchi Estate – Night_

Katara bended a rope of water from the sink's pipe and released it over her face as Toph entered behind her.

"I may be blind, but my ears still work. Like seriously, have you ever considered a new look? I mean, seriously, you could have some definite potential buried under all this hostility," said Toph.

Katara stared at Toph in amusement and retorted, "I'm not hostile. I'm annoyed."

"Why don't you try being nice? People wouldn't know what to think," suggested Toph as she crossed her arms.

Katara sighed, "You forget. I don't care what people think."

"Yes you do," re-joined Toph.

"No I don't. You don't always have to be who they want you to be, you know."

Toph smiled and countered, "I happen to like being adored, thank you."

Katara raised an eyebrow as she inspected the new necklace around Toph's neck. It was an ancient heirloom of the Yamaguchi family – a Watertribe betrothal necklace. "Where'd you get the betrothal necklace?"

"It's mom's," stated Toph as her hands graced over the carved stone that did not belong to her.

_No, it's my mom's,_ thought Katara as she seethed, "No_,_ _really?_ And you've been what? Hiding it for three freaking years after she died?"

Hurt, Toph replied, "No. Daddy found it in a drawer last week."

"So you're just gonna start wearing it now?" cried Katara as her fingers twitched angrily.

Toph flicked a loose stray of hair back from her face and muttered, "It's not like she's coming back to claim it. And besides, it looks good on me."

"Trust me. It doesn't," responded Katara as she shoved past Toph out the bathroom's door.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_Downtown_

Zuko leaned casually against Katara's front fenders as she emerged from a store and walked forward. "Nice ride. Vintage fenders," stated Zuko as his regular, slow-progressing smile urged onto his face.

Katara stood solid and didn't dare inch closer towards her car. "Are you following me?"

Zuko shrugged and replied, "I was in the Laundromat. I saw your car. I came over to say hi."

"Hi," Katara muttered crossly as she moved to open the door, just as Zuko slid over and blocked her way. A mere two inches away from her, she could sniff two distinct smells coming from him. One was the strong crisp smell of smoke, and the other was an unforgettably delicate vestige of aftershave. Together, they blended into an intoxicating scent that lured her one step closer towards him.

"Not a big talker, huh?" he murmured, his breathing hitched for a split second before breaking the silence again. "Or are you just tired?"

Katara broke out of her confused trance and looked up into his golden eyes, which seemed to always be blank of any emotion. Her stare turned into an icy glare as she spat, "Depends on the topic. My fenders don't really whip me into a verbal frenzy."

Zuko tilted his head, genuinely intrigued by her resistance. "You're not afraid of me, are you?"

"Afraid of you? Why would I be afraid of you?" inquired Katara as she contorted her face in slight amusement.

"Well, most people are," he stated as he stretched his smile further across his face.

"Well, I'm not," replied Katara, already exhausted by Zuko today.

"Well, maybe you're not afraid of me. But I'm sure you've thought about me naked, huh?" Zuko said as he gave her a knowing wink.

Katara rolled her eyes and allowed sarcasm to drip off her tongue fluently, "Am I that transparent? I want you, I need you. Oh baby, oh baby." She opened the door, forcing Zuko out of the way as she slipped into the driver's seat. In her car, Katara began to pull out, but was forced to stop by the cause of Jet's white sports car blocking her way. Jet stepped out of his car and headed towards the stores. Katara leaned out the window and snapped, "What is it? Asshole day? _Hey?_! Do you _mind_?"

"Not at all," responded Jet with a thick smirk on his face as he continued towards the stores.

Katara stared at him in disbelief and backed her car up fast, crashing into the door of Jet's precious ego-mobile. Zuko watched on the sidelines with a delighted grin on his face as Jet raced back to his car.

"You bitch!" seethed Jet.

Katara observed the damage with an innocent look of surprise. "Whoops," she muttered as Jet moved his car out of the way. Zuko watched in awe as she pulled out and drove away.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_Living Room, The Yamaguchi Estate_

"Whoops? My insurance does not cover PMS," exclaimed Hakoda as he paced the living room while Katara sat on the couch calmly, hiding a burning smile.

"Well, then tell them I had a seizure," stated Katara.

"Is this about Whale Tail Island Academy? Are you punishing me because I want you to stay close to home?" questioned Hakoda as his pacing came to an end.

"Aren't you punishing me because mom left?" countered Katara.

"You think you could leave her out of this?" Hakoda snapped, as a frown settled on Katara's face.

"Fine. Then stop making my decisions for me," Katara grumbled.

He sighed, "I'm your father. That's my right."

Katara whipped her head to look at him indignantly. "So what I want doesn't matter?"

"You're seventeen. You don't know what you want. And you won't know what you want until you're forty-five. And if you get it, you'll be too old to use it."

Katara stood to her feet crossly, "_I_ want to go to a school on the other side of the world! _I_ want _you_ to trust me to make my own choices. And I want you to stop trying to control my life just because you can't control yours!"

"Oh yeah? Well you know what I want-" Hakoda cut mid-sentence as his baby-delivery-alarm beeped an interruption. "We'll continue this later."

"Can't wait," snapped Katara as she stormed up the staircase and headed towards her room. On the way, Toph intercepted her after just being on the phone.

"Did you just maim Jet's car?" inquired Toph with a phone in hand.

Katara grinned and replied, "Yeah. Looks like you're gonna have to take the bus."

"Has the fact that you're completely psycho managed to escape your attention?" said Toph between clenched teeth. Katara shrugged and walked away as Toph yelled, "Daddy!"

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_Hallway, White Lotus High_

Zuko shut his locker to reveal Jet's angered visage, glowering next to him. "When I shell out fifty, I expect results," hissed Jet.

"Yeah, I'm on it," Zuko replied, as he hid a smile.

Jet skewed his view and reminded, "Watching the bitch violate my car doesn't count as a date. If you don't get any, I don't get any. Let's go get some."

Jet began to walk off as Zuko said, "I just upped my price," forcing Jet to turn back around in rage.

"What?"

"A hundred bucks a date. In advance," Zuko stated as he watched Jet's frustration seep out.

Jet rolled his eyes, "Forget it."

"Forget her sister, then," countered Zuko as he watched Jet think for a frustrated moment, before peeling out another fifty from his wallet.

"You better hope you're as smooth as you think you are, Yamazaki," grumbled Jet as Zuko took the money with a haughty smile.

**

* * *

**

**Author's Note:** Zuko's coming into the story. Yay! I just realized that this story may not be very long. I'm hoping to stretch it out to ten chapters…considering, 'ten' things I hate about you. If I stretch to ten, the chapters may be shortened. And yes, that means no more 3,000+words chapters. Maybe 1,500 – 2,500.

Review for a sneak peak of the fourth chapter. And hey, the people who did review did receive a sneak peak. So, it's not all moot.


	4. Pawn of a Con

"To Love is to Hate" is based on Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith's written screenplay of "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) which is loosely based on "Taming of the Shrew", by William Shakespeare. I own nothing of the transcription – just the conversion. I do not own Nickelodeon's characters, nor do I wish to. I could never make such amazing awesomeness like Mike & Bryan did anyhow…well, maybe I could, but I won't go there.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

_The Weapons Shop, White Lotus High_

The third hallway of White Lotus High stayed clear of students as Aang and Sokka lingered outside the school's Weapons shop. Sokka wilfully leaned against the wet and painted walls as Aang turned to him with pleading eyes. The shop's door swung open as Zuko's friend, Seth, brushed pass Aang as he made way to the male washroom. Both Aang and Sokka continued to idle outside the Weapons shop, before making their final decision on _who_ would confront Zuko today. _"Go,"_ insisted Aang as he shoved both hands into the depths of his blue jeans. His grey eyes flickered with anxiety as he watched Sokka shake his head in refusal.

"No, _you_ go," hissed Sokka as a deep frown moulded into his face and a twinge of apprehension glazed over his cerulean eyes.

A groan flew from Aang's lips as he removed his hands from his pockets and set a harsh glare towards Sokka. "I went before," reminded Aang, as he ambled into the shop towards Zuko who sat at a wooden table. He stood silently for a few minutes before fixing his gaze on Zuko. "We know what you're trying to do - with Katara Yamaguchi."

From the corner of his golden eye, Zuko languidly lifted his gaze to the acquitted face of Aang. Exhaling loudly, he turned back to his work and derided, "Is that right? And what do you plan to do about it?"

"Help you out," blurted Aang, as he placed a hand on the wooden table for support.

Zuko cocked his head to examine a transparent safety leaflet for the shop. "And why is that?" queried Zuko.

From behind him, Sokka approached and affirmed, "The situation is, my man Aang here has a major jones for Toph Yamaguchi."

The leaflet fell from the grasp of Zuko as he leaned back in his chair and stared at them incredulously. "What is it with this chick? Does she have tea-flavoured nipples?"

"Hey!" defended Aang, his hand pulling back from the wooden table.

Sokka cautioned Aang with a hand before he turned to Zuko. "I think I speak correctly when I say that Aang's love is pure. Purer than say – Jet Watanabe."

Zuko ran a hand through his hair swiftly, "Look. I'm in on this for the cash. Watanabe can plough whoever he wants."

"Okay. There will be _no_ ploughing!" advocated Aang, utter disgust washing over his soft features.

Sokka glanced around nervously before moving closer towards Zuko, "Yamazaki, uh, Zuko. Let me explain something to you here. We set this whole thing up so Aang can get the girl. Aang. Jet's just a pawn."

"So, you two are gonna help me tame the wild beast?" probed Zuko, as he sifted through his pocket for a pack of cigarettes – only to find none.

Sokka turned to Aang with a grin on his face before replying, "We'll do some research. We'll find out what she likes. We are your guys."

"And he means that in a strictly non-prison-movie type of way," confirmed Aang.

Sokka pulled out a sheet a paper from his science textbook and shoved it in front of Zuko's face, "Let's start here. Now, Friday night. The Duke is having a party. It's the perfect opportunity."

"Opportunity for what?" inquired Zuko disinterestedly.

"For you to take out Kat!" exclaimed Sokka, as the bell rang and Zuko stood to his feet.

He turned to them before exiting out the shop's door, "I'll think about it."

Sokka turned to Aang with a large grin on his face and muttered, "And for a little payback. This is gonna be _some_ party." Sokka opened a crumpled ball of paper from his pocket with The Duke's invitation advertising a 'tea and moon cake' party. He handed a neatly printed paper from his textbook to Aang, on which replaced the words 'tea and moon cake' to 'free beer'. Aang's gaze lingered on the details of the paper at the bottom, which were printed, "Don't call" and "just show up" next to The Dukes address.

They both walked out the Weapons shop confidently, as the halls cleared after the school's recent bell. Sokka muttered, "Let's do this," and he opened his science textbook to reveal a stack of printed fliers. He handed half to Aang as they dumped the piles of fliers down the school's stairwell. Seconds to the act, students reached out to grab them as they fell.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

Jet leaned against his locker as he turned to Toph with two identical glamour model photos in hand. One modeled him in a white shirt, whereas the other in a black shirt. "Okay now, this is important. Which do you like better?" enquired Jet.

Toph frowned deeply as she waved a pallid hand over her visionless eyes.

Jet took the hint as he muttered, "Oh right, uh. Which _sounds_ better: white shirt or black shirt?"

"Um, I think I like the sound of white shirt better," answered Toph.

Jet nodded thoughtfully and murmured, "Yeah. It's more-"

"Pensive?" suggested Toph.

Jet contorted his face as he said, "Damn. I was going for thoughtful. So, are you going to The Duke's thing on Friday night?"

"Yeah. I might," stated Toph, as she pressed her textbooks closer against her.

Jet gave her his best flirtatious smile before responding, "Good, 'cause, you know, I'm not gonna bother if you won't be there." The school bell rang and Toph turned to go as Jet exclaimed, "See you there."

Toph nodded a reply as Jet turned to a mirror hanging in his locker. He winked at himself before frowning and readjusting an out-of-place hair.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

The heat of the sun set gently over the horizon as Lion Turtle Park became vacant with the exception of two adolescents. Aang beamed inwardly as he meandered aside Toph along the cooling pavements, his eyes twinkling with a new hope. He glanced at Toph quickly, taking in the way her hair fell straight to her waist, her bangs flopping over her eyes. The golden hoops dangling from her ears as she swayed in a walk. She wore faded blue jeans and an emerald blouse with fake pearls encrusted over its collar. Mascara was smudged under her eyes as she glanced up to meet his gaze, raising one slim eyebrow. "So have you heard about The Duke's party?"

Toph switched her gaze as she pouted, "Yes. And I really, really, _really_ wanna go, but I can't. Not unless my sister goes."

"Yeah I know. I'm workin' on that. But so far she's not goin' for my guy," muttered Aang as he turned to Toph, in hope of fishing for new information. "She's not a…"

"Kyoshi fan girl? No. I found a picture of Avatar Kuruk in her drawer once, so I'm pretty sure she's not harbouring same-sex tendencies."

Aang nodded to himself as he half said to himself, "Okay. So that's the kind of guy she likes? Pretty guys?"

"I don't know. All I've ever heard her say is that she'd die before dating a guy that smokes," provided Toph as she shrugged and inspected a chipped nail in horror.

Aang took that into account before probing, "Okay. All right. What else?"

Toph dropped her nail and turned to look at him with inquisitive eyes. "You're asking me to investigate the inner workings of my sister's twisted mind? _ I_ don't think so."

"Well nothing else has worked. I mean, we need to go behind enemy lines here," countered Aang as Toph nodded in a hesitant agreement.

The incentive of walking through Lion Turtle Park was that it led directly to the Yamaguchi Manor. Aang gawked at the white house with a smile as Toph led him inside, through the front door and to the door of Katara's room. A nail plunged through her door with a paper sign hanging from it reading, 'Pass this point, you may count the time bomb to your death."

Toph pushed the door open, not astonished to see the room vacant with no sign of Katara. Aang stood to the side of the room awkwardly as Toph began rifling through Katara's drawers. "Okay, here we go," murmured Toph as she named off pertinent discoveries and handed them to Aang. "Class schedule, reading list, date book, coffee tickets, um, concert tickets. Ah ha! Black panties!"

Aang stared at the underwear incredulously, before looking at Toph in bemusement. "What does that tell us?"

"She wants to have sex someday, that's what," answered Toph as Aang flushed.

"She could just like the color," suggested Aang as he stood flustered by that intimate detail.

Toph turned to Aang like he was the most idiotic excuse for a teen male on this planet. "You don't buy black lingerie unless you _want_ someone to see it."

"Oh. So, uh, can I see your room?" asked Aang, slightly encouraged by this new development between them.

She looked at him disbelievingly before putting Katara's stuff back into place. "No. A girl's room is very personal."

Aang bit his lip awkwardly and muttered, "Oh."

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

Sokka told Aang about the little 'quality time' he shared with his twin sister, Katara, this evening. How they had eaten sea creatures while he discovered new knowledge about his sister that he hadn't cared about over the seventeen years of their life. Aang and Sokka soon after made their way through the surly denizens of a saloon in the middle of the night.

Aang looked around in wonder as he murmured, "Wow. Is this what a bar looks like?"

"Don't touch anything. You may get hepatitis," counselled Sokka as they headed towards Zuko, who played pool by himself. As they passed another table, Sokka picked up the eight ball, ruining the game-winning shot a tough firebender was making as he tossed it back onto the table without realizing what he had done.

Zuko saw their approach and stood to his feet lazily, his body stretching out like a lion. Tiredly he inquired, "So what've you got for me?"

Aang smirked and replied, "A little insight into a very complicated girl."

Sokka looked at the alcohol in Zuko's right hand and said, "Just one question before we start: should you be drinking alcohol when you don't have a liver?"

Zuko spit out his drink as he contorted his face in confusion. "What?"

Sokka looked away and muttered, "Nothing. Nothing."

Aang walked closer to Zuko as he stated, "First thing: Katara hates smokers." Aang plucked the cigarette out of Zuko's fingers and dropped it on the floor.

Zuko's eyes hinted rage as he said, "You're telling me I'm a -" he spat out the word, "'non-smoker'?"

"Yeah. But just for now," assured Sokka as Aang continued.

"And there's another problem. Toph said that Katara likes - pretty guys," choked out Aang as silence fell over the group.

Zuko lifted an eyebrow as innocence flooded his face and he responded, "Are you telling me I'm not a pretty guy?"

Sokka bit his lip and turned to Aang as he advocated, "He's very pretty! He's a _gorgeous_ guy."

"I wasn't sure. I didn't know," muttered Aang as he pulled out a list of information. "Alright. Okay - Likes: Watertribe food, feminist prose, and 'angry, girl music of the indie-rock persuasion'. Here's a list of CDs that she has in her room," said Aang as he handed the list to Zuko.

Zuko stared at it in bewilderment before asking, "So I'm supposed to buy her some seafood and a book and sit around listening to chicks who can't play their instruments, right?"

"Have you ever been to Club Skunk-Bear?" enquired Sokka. "Her favourite band is playing there tomorrow night."

Zuko sat down in a chair with a deep grimace as he shook his head twice. "I can't be seen at Club Skunk-Bear, alright?"

"But she'll be there. She's got tickets," whined Aang, as he pleaded once more.

"Just assail your ears for one night," added Sokka.

Aang blurted, "She has a pair of black underwear, if that helps."

"Couldn't hurt, right?" nudged Sokka as he winked.

Zuko stared at him dubiously, "You _are_ her brother, right?" He turned away from them as he searched for a new cigarette, "And anyways, _I _personally would prefer a shade of blue on that bod of hers."

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

**Author's Note: **Wow! I have completed the fourth chapter after…about 5 weeks of procrastination?

My apologies, I've been working on my other stories and my websites' host had recently crashed. I had to deal with that first before working on any fan-fictions. Also, I read some very depressing stories about fandom writers who became authors and didn't necessarily fail, but as for their writing - they received harsh critiques from their once beloved reviewers.

It wasn't very motivating. It made me doubt.

Obviously, my writing has lots of work before it's mastered, this story doesn't display it much because I'm basing most off a screenplay (you can view my other fan-fictions in my profile). I also wish to master in screenwriting, because that's something I'm extremely interested in – as I continue to study film.

_**A little message from Zuko Yamazaki and Katara Yamaguchi to the people who **__**DO**__** review:**_

**Yamazaki:** To all reviewers, you guys are alright, y'know, less annoying than this bitch-of-a-fanfic writer. Keep reviewing; I only get sexier with every new chapter.

**Yamaguchi:** Oh, Agni. _Shut_ up? And, by the way, I personally love angry female bands singing to indie-rock. They never lie, if you ask me.

**Yamazaki:** So, I'm a liar now? Your hatred for me burns a sad mourning in my sleep. I think I'm gonna resort away from you now. Or you can always recite that poem you-

**Yamaguchi:** SSSH. You're ruining the story. And anyways, you calling me sexy is far-

**Yamazaki:** SEE! You're ruining the story too. Sorry reviewers, just, yeah, keep reviewing and I'll keep being a bad-ass, with a, well, awesome ass _and_ a sexy hairdo.

**Yamaguchi:** Pfft.

A sneak preview and more if you review - (a sorry to the reviewers who didn't receive a sneak preview this time)


	5. Big Dumb Combat Boots

"To Love is to Hate" is based on Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith's written screenplay of "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) which is loosely based on "Taming of the Shrew", by William Shakespeare. I own nothing of the transcription – just the conversion. I do not own Nickelodeon's characters, nor do I wish to. I could never make such amazing awesomeness like Mike & Bryan did anyhow…well, maybe I could, but I won't go there.

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

The spray-painted black walls of Club Skunk-Bear added to the club's darkness as Zuko walked down a hallway towards the main stage. Stares of suspicious girls burned from behind as he entered the heat of the club and searched the crowd to find Katara dancing with her best friend, Suki. He eyed her in curiosity as he took a seat at the bar. She was wearing tight dark jeans that hung onto her hips and a sangria tank top that revealed a haze of the toned skin beneath. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail as it swayed left-to-right. _She was beautiful_, thought Zuko, _Never mind, just hot. She was just hot. _

"Yamazaki! What are you doing here tonight?" exclaimed the bartender, breaking Zuko away from his thoughts, as he turned to the bartender.

Katara stopped dancing at the call of such name. She turned to her friends and shouted over the blaring music, "I need agua!" Katara headed towards the bar and looked the bartender in eye as she ordered, "Two waters."

Katara waited in disgust as she spotted Zuko ignoring her. "If you're planning on asking me out again, you might as well just get it over with."

Zuko pretended to be absorbed by the music in which he despised so strongly, as he shouted, "Would you mind? You're kind of ruining this for me."

Katara pondered this before noticing not one single cigarette was in his reach. She cocked her head and replied, "You're not surrounded by your usual cloud of smoke."

"I know. I quit. Apparently they're bad for you," stated Zuko as he glanced at her quickly before playing back on his act.

Katara's face washed over with surprise. She was _so_ surprised that all her malicious sarcasm cleared away from her voice as she confirmed, "You did?"

"You know, these guys are no Flameo Kill or Rainbenders, but they're not bad," muttered Zuko as he stood from his seat and walked into the midst of the crowds, stunned for a moment, as Katara rushed after him.

More surprise washed over Katara as she murmured, "You know who the Rainbenders are?"

"Why? Don't you? I was watching you out there before..." started Zuko as he turned to look at her with a grin spread over his face. The song ended and a silence fell over the club as Zuko continued to use his loud-club-volume voice, "I've never seen you look so sexy."

Laughter erupted from the female crowds at hearing the loud and clear statement. He grinned with embarrassment as he continued, "Come to The Duke's party with me."

"You never give up, do you?" queried Katara as she rolled her eyes and turned on her heel to walk away, through the crowd.

He looked at her in slight astonishment, "Was that a yes?"

"No," shouted Katara over her shoulders.

He smirked and persevered, "Well, was _that_ a no?"

Katara didn't answer for a beat of a second, before she responded, "No."

"I'll see you at 9:30 then."

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

Evening's commence became known over the Yamaguchi estate as the obstetrician, Hakoda, sat down reading a newspaper, facing the opposite direction from his daughter, Toph, and her friend Jin who were sneaking down the stairs to escape through the house's exit. They were heavily dolled-up in party clothes in the cause of The Duke's house party that night. Hakoda leaned back against the living room couch as he stated, "You should have used the window."

Ignoring his statement, Toph groaned softly and tried to pretend everything was normal. "Hi Daddy," she greeted softly as both her and Jin walked forward.

"Hi. Where are we going?" muttered Hakoda as he flicked through the next page of his paper.

Toph sighed elegantly and said, "Well, if you must know, a small study group of friends."

"Otherwise known as an orgy?" asked Hakoda as he leaned forward to browse through the many magazines on their coffee table.

Jin rolled her eyes as she placed a hand to her hip and replied, "Mr. Yamaguchi, it's just a party."

"And Hell is just a sauna," he breathed, as Katara pounded down the stairs in oblivion to what was going on. Hakoda directed his next question to Katara as he asked, "You know about any party?"

Deviously, Katara shrugged and shook her head in an innocent manner.

Toph's face clouded in outrage as she yelled, "People expect me to be there!"

"If Kat's not going, you're not going," stated Hakoda absently, as he switched to another magazine.

Toph turned to Katara in a fury as she seethed, "Why can't you be normal?"

Katara's eyes dimmed as she muttered, "Define normal."

"The Duke's party is normal," offered Toph as she stood with her hands crossed.

Hakoda contorted his face in confusion and asked, "What's a The Duke?"

"The Duke's party is just a lame excuse for all the idiots at our school to drink beer and rub up against each other in hopes of distracting themselves from the pathetic emptiness of their-"

Toph and Jin were equally familiar with this rant as they both chorused, "…Meaningless, consumer-driven lives."

Katara stopped short, surprised that she had become so predictable. _Another surprise for the night_, Katara thought.

Toph turned to Katara with piteous eyes as she beseeched, "Can you, for just one night, forget that you're completely wretched and be my sister? Please? Please? C'mon, Katara, please do this for me."

Katara was swayed at the sincerity in Toph's voice as her frown deepened and she murmured, "Fine. I'll make an appearance." Toph and Jin glanced at each other, thrilled, as they burst into gleeful screams, hugging Katara from either side.

"It's starting," muttered Hakoda in fear.

Toph reminded, "It's just a party. Daddy."

Dazedly, Hakoda stated, "I want you to wear the belly."

"Daddy, no!" exclaimed Toph, in utter horror.

"Not all night. Just around the living room for a minute so you can understand the full weight of your decision," decided Hakoda as he rushed to a cupboard and pulled out a padded faux-pregnancy jacket. Toph limply held out her arms in defeat as he hanged it on her.

Toph groaned, "I am perfectly aware-"

Hakoda turned to Toph as he said, "Listen to me. Every time you even think about kissing a boy, I want you to picture wearing this under your halter top."

She shook her head in disgust and muttered, "You are so completely unbalanced."

"We're going now," announced Katara impatiently as she moved forward towards the exit.

"Alright, wait a minute. No drinking. No drugs. No kissing. No tattoos. No piercings. No ritual animal slaughter of any kind," he stated as he soon muttered to himself, "Oh Spirits, I'm giving them ideas."

Katara wrenched open the door and there stood Zuko, with that stupid grin on his face. She stood there in horror as she choked out, "What are you doing here?"

"Nine-thirty right?" asked Zuko as she stood there in shock and he continued, "I'm early."

"Whatever. I'm driving," muttered Katara as Zuko peeked behind her to see Toph still wearing the faux-pregnancy jacket.

"Who knocked up your sister?"

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

Sokka continued to employ a variety of questionable beautification techniques as he prepared for the party, in a room of Aang's loft.

"So, then Toph says that I was right. That she didn't wear the Kenneth Coles with that dress because she thought it was mixing genres. Right? And the fact that I noticed - and this is a direct quote –'really meant something.'"

Aang looked at Sokka expectantly as he responded, "You told me that part already."

"I've been thinking about it all the time," murmured Aang, partially to himself.

Sokka scoffed as he said, "Stop being so self-involved for one minute. How do I look?"

"You look like the eldest monk from my elementary school," stated Aang.

Sokka stared him in the eye as he asked, "You think I should lose the tie?"

"Yeah."

Self-consciously he muttered, "Maybe you're right. I'm just so nervous. You know? And I'm also very excited. I'm nervous and I'm excited. It's all very mixed up. I don't know... The last party I went to was at Chuck-E-Cheeze. You wanna talk about some fun?" he snorted happily as he muttered, "That's a good time."

**水土火气****水土火气****水土火气****水土火气**

**Author's Note: **A short chapter to go over their preparations for the party. Zuko, as usual, is a joy to write. The party is next chapter…character surprises are to come. "No drinking…" – Hakoda. Yeah, I mean, what party have you gone to that doesn't have drinking and people coming there who don't have the intentions of drinking? Pft. =) Review for more chapters. This was roughly edited – I just sort of rushed through this chapter a bit (it's kind of obvious).


	6. It Makes Me Sick

"To Love is to Hate" is based on Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith's written screenplay of "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) which is loosely based on "Taming of the Shrew," by William Shakespeare. I own nothing of the transcription – just the conversion. I do not own Nickelodeon's characters, nor do I wish to. I could never make such amazing awesomeness like Mike & Bryan did anyhow…well, maybe I could, but I won't go there.

**水土火气水土火气水土火气水土火气**

The Duke - leader of the future MBA's and the host to a group of stiff-looking teenage males, who arranged themselves on a number of flowery sofas, in a _very_ luxurious den. The incandescent lights of his upscale, suburban home were well-lit as he spotted one of his guests fondling a crystal vase and seized it. The Duke tightened his grip on the vase and turned to his guests with a reluctant grin, "Now remember guys. Don't touch anything." The Duke placed the vase back to its original location as the manor chimed its doorbell, announcing a guest's arrival. He smiled and murmured, "That must be Pipsqueak with the bean curd puffs."

Barely making it to the door, The Duke's entryway was stampeded with boisterous partiers. Within a few minutes, the house was filled to capacity. Dozens of teens bombarded the exclusive home, their scanty outfits over revealing as their bodies rocked against their partners. The DJ was spinning with raucous music while heaps of booze and tea passed through the crowds.

Sokka, dressed in a suit, had his russet-brown hair gelled back as he drifted through an archway with beer in one hand and bee-lines for a busty brunette on the other. "You know, I'm thinking about getting a Swamp Skiff. Yeah, it originates from the Foggy Swamp Tribe," said Sokka. The brunette winced in disgust, as she and her friend standing nearby began to walk away. "It can travel around swamps," shouted Sokka.

Across the way, Katara was dressed in a tight blue tank tee and black leather leggings with fur trimmed boots that came to her knees. Two locks of hair fell loosely on either side of Katara's head and were fastened with clips onto the back of her hair. The rest of her hair was changed from its usual bun, falling in loose russet waves down her back. Beside her, Zuko wore a black fitting top with deep red flames and gold trimmings. He wore his usual brown pants with a black sash around his waist and his usual big black combat boots. Together, they trudged up the stairwell to the balcony as a soft-chestnut haired girl turned to Zuko with wide, excited eyes.

"Kiss me!" the girl exclaimed, her lips puckering in a very happily drunk manner. She embraced Zuko and he protested by turning her around, nudging her into the arms of a lonely male on a chair.

"Kiss him," directed Zuko, as she immediately fell upon the lonely male's lips.

The lonely male fared to tear himself from the girl's demands, as he turned to Zuko and breathed, "Hey, thanks man!" Whilst acknowledging Zuko's so-called kindness, he managed to forget the girl and drop her unstable body to the ground.

Walking past Zuko, Katara had continued onto the posh balcony and meandered into a room stacked with rows of beer. She turned towards the exit and nearly bumped into Jet.

A grin spread across his face wickedly, as he filtered her appearance and crooned, "_Sweet_! Lookin' fresh tonight, Pussy-Kat."

Katara stared at him blankly and pointed to his forehead in awe. She clasped a hand to her mouth and wondered, "Wait - was that? Did your hairline just recede?" Jet stood flustered for a moment and she took the easy opportunity to walk away from him.

"Hey, where ya goin?" called Jet.

Katara glanced at him in odium and replied, _"Away."_

"Your sister here?" Jet asked as he watched a frown settle over Katara's face.

Katara turned to face him. "Stay away from my sister."

Jet smirked. "Oh, I'll stay away from your sister. But I can't guarantee she'll stay away from me."

He turned away from her and walked the other direction. Satisfied, Katara walked back down the stairwell and into the next room, where she was met by ruckus sounds, chanting "Fight!" as two guys slugged it out in the _very_ luxurious den. The Duke stood there in horror as he begged, "You guys, please! Take it outside!" The two boys wrestled, as they crashed through the bay window and onto the grass outside. "Thank you," muttered The Duke.

Katara pushed through the gathered crowds to escape and was encountered by Jet again, with Toph on his arm. "Hey Kat. Look who found me," sneered Jet, as Toph and him walked away.

"Toph, wait!" pleaded Katara.

"Please don't address me in public," responded Toph in her flimsy jade dress which contrasted sharply against the strikingly dark hair that fell straight down her back.

Katara shook her head and exclaimed, "No wait! There's something I _need_ to tell you."

"Look. _I _am busy enjoying my adolescence, so scamper off and do the same."

"Bye-bye," chimed Jet, in flagrant amusement.

Katara stood there in silent dejection, a firm frown moulding her mouth. A brazenly cheerful male with a tray of shots sidled up next to her and asked, "Want one?" She snatched a shot and downed it with a grimace of intense discomfort as Zuko appeared behind her.

Zuko turned to her in disbelief and took the shot from her hand. "What's this?" he demanded.

"Right on, sister!" encouraged the male holding the tray of shots, clearly impressed at her performance.

Zuko glanced at the male in disgust before turning back to Katara. "I've been looking all over the place for you," hissed Zuko.

Katara gave him a dazed look as she mocked, "_'I'm getting trashed, man.'_ Isn't that what you're supposed to do at a party?"

He grinned and shrugged. "I dunno. I say, do what you wanna do."

Katara cocked her head as she snorted and replied, "Funny, you're the only one. Later."

**水土火气水土火气水土火气水土火气**

Sokka stood indolently amongst the crowds, as he spotted another pair of girls and tried his luck again. He turned to the dark-haired girl and did a weak impression of the camelephant strut. "Lord of the Dance. Hi, Jun."

"Bite me," she responded, before turning on her heel and walking away.

Sokka stood undaunted and cheerfully hissed, "Should have kept the tie."

"Hey. Have you seen _her_ around anywhere?" questioned Aang, as he strode towards Sokka.

"_Her _has a name and _her_ is my sister and _her _is-" Sokka broke off as he spotted Toph and Jin trudging down the stairwell. "Right over there." He reluctantly pointed Aang in her direction. Aang stiffened with nerves. "Relax. Relax. I'm telling you, follow the love, man. Just, make sure that Jet guy doesn't go near my sister."

Aang stiffened more and he turned to Sokka. _"Who?"_

Sokka simply patted Aang in encouragement and pushed him towards the two girls. He turned to Toph and greeted, "Hi Toph."

"Oh, hi Aang. Um, you know Jin?" asked Toph, as she pushed Jin between her and Aang.

Aang barely glanced at Jin as he muttered, "Yeah. I think we have art together, right?"

"Great," groaned Jin, as she rolled her eyes.

"So, uh, you really look amazing," praised Aang, to Toph. Jin showed pitiable disdain at his obvious pass.

Toph responded in discomfort, "Thanks."

Overhearing Aang's compliment, Jet plodded down the stairwell. Jin turned around to look Jet up and down approvingly. He gave the two girls a dazzling smile and stated, "We all know_ I_ look amazing." The two girls giggled as Jet took satisfaction in seeing Aang's crestfallen face. "Toph, let's go. We're all congregating around Mr. Hotman."

Toph turned to Aang and murmured, "Um, I'll see you around, okay?"

Jet walked away with Toph and Jin as Aang stared at them in disbelief. Jet looked back long enough to flash Aang a thumb's up.

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Toph continued to walk aside Jet as he blathered about modeling. "So I've got the Ba Sing Se Market catalogue thing going - and the tube sock gig. That is gonna be _huge_!" Jet paused as someone screamed and fell off the roof outside the window. "And I'm up for a haemorrhoid cream ad next week." Toph offered a look of disgust as Jet continued, "I know it sounds kind of bogus, but...I get_getta_ do some acting."

Jet paused to place his empty can of Budweiser atop a large beer-can pyramid. He modeled a pose to Toph, who withdrew her attention off him. "You see what I did there?"

Toph pursed her lips as she uninterestedly replied, "Um... uh-huh."

"That was underwear. I'll show you the bathing suit one next," said Jet as he repeated the exact same pose. "You see the difference?" Toph turned away from him in utter disgust. He noticed her lack of interest and took it in stride, immediately turning to someone behind him. "Okay, I'll show you."

Toph used the opportunity to walk into the now-not-so-luxurious-looking-den, in an attempt at finding Jin. A kid with dreads, chewed on a slab of fresh meat as he unexpectedly, unloaded a mouthful of the meat into an expensive crystal vase. The Duke looked at him in horror before snatching the vase and moaning woefully.

Toph passed them in disgust, searching the crowd and spotting Jet through an archway, striking poses for a crowd. She turned away and faced Aang, who was obviously not happy with the evening's turn of events. Toph decided to avoid the inevitable conflict as she spotted Jin and pulled her in the opposite direction. "Is it just me, or does this party all of a sudden suck?" moaned Toph as they walked away, leaving behind a sour looking Aang.

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Zuko continued to search for Katara with no success. He passed the drunken soft-chestnut haired girl and the lucky male from earlier. The lucky male glanced at Zuko as he breathed, "Really. Really! Thank you!"

Zuko gave him a pat on the shoulder and moved on as he spotted Katara, who was already very drunk, standing with a fresh shot in her hand. He rushed over to her and tried to remove the shot glass from her hand. "Hey, hey, hey! Why don't you let me have this one, huh?" offered Zuko, as Katara reacted fiercely in her refusal and pulled the shot away.

"No! This one's mine," affirmed Katara as she rushed away from Zuko.

Jet walked up from behind Zuko and grabbed him by the shoulder, distracting Zuko from following Katara. "My man! How did you get her to do it?"

"Do what?"

"Act like a human," stated Jet, in slight awe as both their gazes wandered into a large open room crowded with teens dancing. In the center of the room was a table. Katara climbed up on the table to dance in a provocative manner, surprising everyone in the room with her dancing skills.

"Yeah! _Alright_!" hollered Jet as he rushed into the room to watch. Zuko slowly walked into the room to watch her performance with the growing crowds. The crowds clapped and cheered on.

Katara completed her stimulating dance by falling off the table and into the arms of Zuko. "Are you okay?" he asked, concern surprisingly palpable in his voice.

"I'm fine," Katara moaned as she failed to sit up.

Zuko placed Katara on her feet and replied, "You're not fine. C'mon." He guided her away from the table and down the manor's hall.

"I just need to lie down somewhere," groaned Katara.

Zuko shook his head reprovingly and retorted, "Uh, uh. You lie down and you'll go to sleep."

"Sleep is good," Katara slurred happily.

"Yeah. Not if you have a concussion," murmured Zuko as he directed her out the house and toward a stone bench. "C'mon. Here, sit down. Sit."

As Zuko sat Katara down, Aang walked up next to him. "Hey, hey. We need to talk."

"I'm a little busy right now," grumbled Zuko.

Aang sighed and pleaded, "Can you give me a second?" Zuko nodded hesitantly and stepped aside with him. "It's off, okay? The whole thing's off."

Zuko squinted down at Aang and raised a hand to press against his temples. "What're you talking about?"

"She never wanted me. She wanted Jet the whole time," groused Aang.

Zuko simply stared in disbelief, before letting out an exasperated breath and swearing deftly in annoyance. "_Aang_ - do you _like_ the girl?"

"Yeah," answered Aang.

Zuko blinked in impatience and tried again, "Yeah. And is she worth all this trouble?"

"Well, I thought she was. But, you know, I-"

"Well she is or she isn't. See, first of all, Jet is not half the man you are. Secondly, don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want. Go for it!" as he said this, concurrently Katara began to fall off the bench and Zuko rushed to catch her again. He stood her up and they walked away.

Aang stood there, unsure how to make use of this advice as Zuko continued to walk an oblivious Katara away from the party.

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Zuko marched Katara down the street, holding her up as they headed up a hill. "You're so patronizing," moaned Katara, in obvious annoyance at being held in the arms of, in her opinion, a lunatic.

He laughed to himself and said, "Leave it to you to use big words when you're smashed."

She pushed herself away from him in an attempt at walking on her own. "I don't think so," Katara murmured as she fell down and stood back up again. "Why are you doing this?"

"I told you. You _may_ have a concussion," stated Zuko.

She swore under her breath and retorted, "You don't care if I never wake up."

"Sure, I do," countered Zuko, his lips curling into a grin.

Katara looked at him loftily and scoffed, "Why?"

They reached a set of two swings hedged by ivy and stopped.

"Well, because then I'd have to start taking out girls who actually like me."

Katara snorted, "Like you could find one."

"See that, there? Who needs affection when I have blind hatred?"

Katara jutted her chin towards the swings and murmured, "Let me sit down for a while." She walked over towards the swings and plopped down, moving her hands to hang onto the ropes. She looked at him for a moment, a smile breaking over her features before she fell backwards – only to be caught again.

"Agni," hissed Zuko, calling on the sun god's name.

"Nope. It's me," answered Katara.

Zuko sat on the other swing and stared at her. "So why'd you let him get to you?"

"Who?"

"Jet," added Zuko.

Katara rolled her eyes and huffed, "I _hate_ him."

"Well, you've chosen the perfect revenge: mainlining tequila," Zuko responded. She made an inelegant sound and began to laugh, her eyes shining.

Wistfully, she mumbled, "_Well_, you know what they say..."

He stopped her swing from rocking and turned to her. "No. What do they say?" Katara's head rested against the swing's rope, her eyes closed in a slumber. Zuko shook her swing twice in concern. "No, no, no, _no_! Katara! C'mon, wake up! Look at me! Listen to me, Katara. Open your eyes!" He slapped her and she slowly opened her eyes.

"Hey. You're eyes…they're gold….pretty," slurred Katara as he sighed with relief and smiled. Katara lurched and vomited at his feet.

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On The Duke's manor's driveway, kids continued to loiter outside as Toph and Jin waited.

"I don't know if we should go-"

Jet walked up from behind the two girls and interrupted Toph, saying, "Hey. A bunch of us are going to Smellerbee's house. Ready?"

"Uh, I have to be home in twenty minutes," replied Toph.

Jin turned to Jet eagerly and said, "You know, I don't have to be home 'til two. So…"

"One more chance," offered Jet.

Toph rolled her sightless eyes as she took off her heels to feel her surroundings. Every five minutes she would do this to feel more comfortable. She turned to Jet with a falsified frown and muttered, "Oh, man. I can't. Damn."

Jet turned to Jin, "You wanna go?"

"Sure," replied Jin, instantly.

"Jin!" Toph exclaimed in horror.

Jin shrugged and stated, "Hey, you passed," as she left with Jet.

Under her breath, Toph seethed, "Bitch."

Aang exited The Duke's party and stopped when he saw Toph, standing alone. In an accusatory tone, he asked, "Hey. Have _fun_ tonight?"

"Tons," groaned Toph. "Aang? Do you think you could give me a ride home?"

Toph gave him a helpless smile.

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Zuko drove Katara's car as she sat in the passenger seat, listening to the radio station on Waterbending trainers. "I should do this," she murmured.

"Do what?" asked Zuko.

"_This_." Katara pointed to the radio.

"Be a Waterbending trainer?"

She stared at him in disgust and allowed sarcasm to drip off her tongue as she replied, "_No_, install car radios. Yeah, be a Waterbending trainer. The _best _Waterbending trainer. My father would _love_that."

Zuko pulled up to her house and stopped the car. "You don't strike me as the type that would ask your father's permission."

Venomously, she spat, "Oh, so now you think you _know_ me?"

"I'm gettin' there," he said softly.

She shook her head and gazed down at her hands, "The only thing people know about me is that I'm _scary_."

"Yeah, well, I'm no picnic myself," stated Zuko as she turned to look at him in a shared moment of connection. Zuko turned away to avoid the tension and asked, "So what's up with your dad? Is he a pain in the ass?"

"No. He just wants me to be someone I'm not."

Zuko turned to look at her and asked, "Who?"

"Toph."

"Ah…Toph. No offense or anything, I mean, I know everyone digs you're sister. But, um...She's without," responded Zuko.

Katara whipped her head to really look at him, a new admiration building. "You know, you're not as vile as I thought you were."

She leaned drunkenly towards him, her eyes closed. She was so close that she could smell the scent of his skin, mixed with dry smoke and a soft aftershave, with a tinge of a honey-scent. He smelled like the sun, if that was even possible. It was only after she felt the soft pressure that had her lips pressed on his to realize she was kissing him. With waking realization, she deepened the kiss and her heart thumped erratically. Her body grew warm as he responded more passionately, his mouth melding with hers, his arms holding onto her hesitantly. Katara drifted her hand down his shirt and under the hem, tracing her hand over tight skin and toned muscles.

He froze and pulled her off him, breaking the kiss. Katara gasped. "Maybe we should do this another time," Zuko muttered, his voice soft as Katara stared at him, her blue eyes twinkling…_too beautiful_, he thought, _too beautiful to be hot_.

Katara stared at him bitterly before getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her.

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Toph and Aang rode in silence. He pulled up in front of her house and finally broke it, "You never wanted to go sailing with me, did you?"

"Yes I did," lied Toph.

He sharpened his gaze and spat, "No. You didn't."

"Well, okay. No. Not actually."

Disappointed, he replied, "Well, then that's all you had to say. You always been this selfish?"

Toph pondered this for a few seconds, before meekly answering, "Yes."

"You know, just because you're beautiful, doesn't mean you can treat people like they don't matter. I mean, I really like you. Okay? I defended you when people called you conceited. I helped you when you asked me to. I learned a language that barely exists, for _you_! And then you just blow me off-"

Toph grabbed his face and pressed her mouth to his, her kiss wiping all other thoughts of his away. She pulled back with a smile, leaving him stunned as she got out of the car in silence.

Toph turned, smiled and continued to walk towards the door. Aang blinked and regained his composure as he punched the air, creating a brief breeze that aerated through the car. "And I'm _back_ in the game!"

**水土火气水土火气水土火气水土火气**

**Review!**


	7. It's A Deathwish

**A/N: It's been forever!**** Thank you so much for your patience. This chapter is really bad and short and pathetic. However, it's one of those filler chapters that pushes the plot onwards **_**(whatever that is)**_**. **

"To Love is to Hate" is based on Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith's written screenplay of "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) which is loosely based on "Taming of the Shrew," by William Shakespeare. I own nothing of the transcription – just the conversion. I do not own Nickelodeon's characters, nor do I wish to. I could never make such amazing awesomeness like Mike & Bryan did anyhow…well, maybe I could, but I won't go there.

**水土火气水土火气水土火气水土火气**

Katara entered Mr. Pakku's class with a solemn temperament, her gaze cast downwards, slowly making her way towards the empty chair at the front of the room. Counting to fifty twice in an attempt at blacking out the cat-calls and sneering faces around her, Katara sat down, poised and ready to learn. The perfect model-student - hair in a tight bun, brush in hand and scroll sprawled out across the desk.

Kuzon - a Watertribe Wannabe – however had to ruin that, pestering Katara's dancing display from the previous night. "Katara, me lady, you sway like the waves to the rhythm of me heart."

She turned to him with a look of utter disgust, rolling her eyes before resuming her count to fifty for the third time. Only to be interrupted when Shoru - a Sandbender – appeared beside her, his mouth purring in her ear. "Dance for me, sexy girl."

She stood abruptly from her seat, losing her balance and nearly falling into Jet. He turned to her and she squeezed her eyes shut, expecting the worse from him. It wouldn't be worth it to blow up and bitch at everyone today, she was on the losing side and she had caused this.

A smirk started at the corner of his broad lips, his shaggy brown hair flopping over his eyes, eyebrows raised and mouth opening to taunt. "Kat, babe, what do we owe you for the table dance?" goaded Jet.

As if right on cue, Mr. Pakku stormed through the classroom doors with a loud exhale and grumbled, "Alright, not that I care, but how was everybody's weekend?" Katara took the opportunity to sit back down.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe we should ask _Katara_," Jet badgered, his gaze resting indolently on Katara's physique.

Mr. Pakku offered Jet a disgusted scowl and replied, "Unless she kicked the crap out of your dumb butt, I don't wanna hear about it. Okay, let's open up our scrolls to the Cave of Two Lovers, on 'Secret Tunnel' by Chong and friends. Listen up.

"'Two lovers, forbidden from one another. A war divides their people, and a mountain divides them apart. Built a path to be together.' At here, the author claims that pieces were forgotten. 'And die! Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountain! Secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel! Yeah!'" He looked up from "Secret Tunnel" to turn to the class. "Now, I know Nomad Chong is a dead lunatic. But he knows his shit, so we can overlook that. I want you all to write your own version of this. Not the same storyline, but a poem, nonetheless. "

The class groaned in disapproval, contradictory to Katara who simply raised her hand. Mr. Pakku openly frowned, "Yes, Miss I-have-an-opinion-about-everything?"

"Do you want this in iambic pentameter?" enquired Katara.

Mr. Pakku laughed to himself. "You're not going to fight me on this?"

Katara lifted her gaze to meet Mr. Pakku's and affirmed, "No. I think it's a really good assignment."

Mr. Pakku laughed harder, causing the class to stare at him oddly. "You're just messin' with me, aren't you?"

"No. I'm really looking forward to writing it," Katara answered candidly.

Mr. Pakku stopped all laughter, a cloud of anger disturbing his features. His eyebrows furrowed and his teeth clenched. He snarled, "Get _out_ of my class."

"What?"

"Out. Get out!" roared Mr. Pakku. Katara quickly rose from her seat in unconcealed bewilderment, packing her tools back into her bag. Eyes were glued onto her every step towards the classroom's exit. The class was silent; smirks shifting the features of student's faces, the temperature quickly cooling down a notch despite the warmth in Katara's flushed face. Katara's anger bottled and she fought the urge to fight back, physically and verbally.

Jet watched Mr. Pakku as his attention turned back to the class. Jet opened his mouth, a facade of sincerity covering his features. "Thanks, Mr. Pakku."

"Shut up," he replied, picking up a heavy scroll and instructing the class to take out the extensive scroll on the Rise and Fall of the Fire Nation.

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The hallway floors were shined spotless, the walls a peasant green and a quasi-Kyoshi Suki was found rummaging through her locker of adorned Kyoshi antiques. Whilst searching for a missing scroll, Sokka, clad in slacks and a Sparring tee walked forward.

His eyes rifled through her Kyoshi themed-locker, eyes pausing at something other, a framed image of Avatar Kuruk, of the ancient Watertribes.

"Hey," greeted Sokka. "That's a cool picture. But isn't he a little too old for you?" Sokka laughed at his own joke, and then noticed her lack of amusement. "Kidding. No, because I know you're a fan of Kyoshi, but a fan of Avatar Kuruk too?

Suki languidly settled her gaze on him in disinterest. "More than a fan. We're involved."

Sokka stared at her, trying to ignore the absurdity of that. "Okay…then."

Suki turned back to her rummaging while Sokka's mind dug for something to keep her attention. His mind pondered on an Avatar Kuruk quote and his lips moved before he could stop himself. "'I lost the woman I loved to Koh, the face stealer. It was my fault. If I had been more attentive and more active-'"

"'…I could have saved her?'" finished Suki, her mouth agape and her eyes alight as she stopped rummaging and turned to him.

Sokka thought for a moment. "August 100 ASC by a summoning of the Avatar, right?"

Suki blinked and breathlessly replied, "Right."

"So, listen. I have this friend."

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The Waterbending team was warming up as Aang sat next to Zuko on the bleachers. The odd numbered team partnered up, everyone but Katara was partnered. Aang's attention turned to Zuko when the coach walked towards her.

Aang noticed her indifference towards Zuko today, she wouldn't wave – not that she did that often - nor did she even bother to acknowledge Zuko's appearance on the bleachers. After last night, you'd think their relationship would have delved away from an insignificant war of silence. "What'd you do to her?" was all that Aang could muster.

Zuko paused midway from taking out another cigarette. He glanced at Aang before hardening his gaze and squinting against the sunlight. "Look, I didn't do anything. Would've been too drunk to remember, anyways."

"But the plan was working." Aang gave a lopsided grin, his eyes twinkling. Katara was still looking for a partner.

Zuko glanced at Aang questioningly before bringing the cigarette between his lips and inhaling sharply. He removed it and exhaled, his mind drifting to Katara. It was a little kiss. Nothing special. But she was so vigorously involved in it; he seemed to think pass kissing at first base. If she wasn't completely wasted and he_ didn't_ want to rip her clothes off– Agni, the things he would do to her. That is, if she still wanted him, while she _wasn't_ intoxicated.

He lolled his head toward Aang and slouched in the bench. "What do you care? I thought you wanted out."

Aang blushed. "Yeah, well I did, but, uh, that was until she kissed me."

_Hmm, now that's interesting. _A grin shot up on Zuko's face. "Where?"

"In the car."

Aang missed Zuko's disappointed frown, his gaze suddenly shifting to an approaching Sokka, jogging up the steps to sit between Aang and Zuko. "Alright. I talked to her. I got the scoop," announced a heavy-breathing Sokka.

"What did she say?" asked Aang.

"Who again?" questioned Zuko.

"Katara. And apparently, and now this is a direct quote: 'Hates him with the fire of a thousand suns'."

Zuko pulled a smirk and patted Sokka's back. "Yeah, thanks man. That's very comforting of you."

"We don't know. She could just need a day to cool off," offered Aang.

Zuko slowly allowed his gaze to travel back to the field. Katara was still awaiting a partner to spar with. His stomach involuntarily churned and he muttered, "Or maybe we could try now."

Sokka and Aang looked at each other before following Zuko's gaze to where Katara stood partner-less, arms crossed. Zuko stood from his seat, walking down the steps and onto the playing field. From the bleachers, Sokka and Aang watched anxiously.

Zuko padded across the stone field towards an edgy Katara. He appeared before her in an instant, causing Katara to momentarily stagger back in surprise.

"Excuse me. What happened to personal space? I could have sworn I had some moments ago." Katara sent a menacing glare at Zuko. She shoved past him. "Back off, Yamazaki."

He watched her walk away before quickly striding after her. He grabbed both of her arms from behind, dragging her back into him. He turned her around and flashed a smirk. "Hi partner."

"What? What are you talking about? Partner for this. Since when can you bend in combat?"

"I'm not all lazy as the rumours say I am. Nor did I feed Bull Pigs in my childhood. Believe it or not, my family could actually afford forcing me into training. I just don't flaunt it like the rest of you. If I flaunted it, well, let's just say my bending is-"

"Right. "

"Look. You need me," Zuko stated, all amusement wiped clean from his face.

Katara scoffed and rolled her eyes. Her gaze suddenly shifted to someone behind Zuko. "Oh, look – its my partner!" She ran off towards her coach and partnered up with an airbender.

Zuko stood there, momentarily flummoxed.

**水土火气水土火气水土火气水土火气**

**Review!**


	8. Miles Away

"To Love is to Hate" is based on Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith's written screenplay of "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) which is loosely based on "Taming of the Shrew", by William Shakespeare. I own nothing of the transcription – just the conversion. I do not own Nickelodeon's characters, nor do I wish to. I could never make such amazing awesomeness like Mike & Bryan did anyhow…well, maybe I could, but I won't go there.

**水土火气水土火气水土火气水土火气**

The school walls were lined and pasted with various events. Flyers pinned to corkboards, advertising things from a '575 SOCIETY HAIKU CLUB' to a 'FANCY LADY DAY SPA DISCOUNT'. Not to be outdone by the words, 'PROM', splashed in a vibrant colour against the black background.

Katara and Suki were a witness to the incessant pasting of prom flyers. The posters, of which, were carried out by a team of overly-preppy-cookie-cutter girls dressed in short plaid skirts and knee-high socks. Katara glanced at them in unconcealed loathing. She saw a new prom flyer and tore it down, watching in unprecedented glee.

A cookie-cutter girl turned a hideous shade of purple. "Hey!"

Katara ignored the girl's protest and continued walking alongside quasi-Kyoshi attired Suki. Katara's hiker, brown leathered boots clanged against the school floor. She made a noise of disgust. "Can you imagine who would go to that antiquated orgy ritual for fun?"

Suki tentatively raised her gloved hand. The fingers were cut out and she was missing the other glove, but she really did like them. "I would. But I don't have a date."

Katara halted and had to pause before doing a double take to ensure those words had actually come out of her own friend's mouth. Suki was smiling innocently. "Do you really want to get all dressed up so some Phoenix Lord-wearing firebending male with a boner can feel you up while you're forced to listen to a band that by definition sucks?" She said this in one breath.

Suki just laughed and shook her head.

"Alright Well how can I say no to that explanation? We won't go, okay? Besides it's not like I even have a dress." Suki's fingerless glove picked at the hem of her quasi-Kyoshi robes.

"You're looking at this from entirely the wrong perspective." Katara stopped and fixed her gaze on Suki. "We're making a statement."

Suki rolled her eyes in an unconvinced matter. She continued to walk down the hallway, muttering under her breath, "Oh, goody. Something new and different for us."

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Jet swaggered up to Toph, completely disregarding the fact that she was deeply focused on chucking a load of rocks from the Earthbending practise field towards her wide-eyed partner.

"Well, hey there beautiful," whispered Jet into Toph's ear. The small Earthbender didn't even flinch, easily utilizing seismic sense to feel him approaching her from a mile away. Jet clearly didn't remember that when she told him during one of their so-called secret lunch dates.

"Hello," Toph replied. She held her stance and kept firm, waiting for her partner retaliate. After how Jet treated her at the party, he was really the last person she wanted to talk to right now.

"You know that's an awfully tough stance for gym class."

Toph sighed. "What can I help you with?" She had moved out of the way from her partners attack and aimlessly chucked a rock. The gym teacher suddenly went down to the ground, crying in pain.

The blind girl and the smooth sword wielder ignored this.

"Simple: You. Me. Prom."

"Well, sorry, I told you, if Katara doesn't go, then neither do I."

"Oh don't worry, your sister is going."

Toph snapped her head to him, as if she was looking right at him, her eyes didn't widen but her body screamed surprise. "What?"

"She'll be there, I got it covered." Jet smirked around the grass blade he always chewed on between his lips.

"How?" Toph questioned loudly.

"Oh that's for me to know and for you _not_ to worry your pretty little head over." Jet said smoothly as he then leaned down and kissed the blind girl on the cheek. "See ya at prom," he added before walking away.

Toph stood frozen, not knowing whether to wipe off her cheek in disgust or leave it alone to savour the joy of just having her dream boy kiss her.

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Jet hands two one hundred bills to Zuko.

"This should take care of the Fire Lilies, the limo, everything; just get her to the prom." Jet stated as he practically shoved two hundred dollars into Zuko's hand.

The burned teen just sighed before shoving it back against Jet's chest. "I'm done. I'm not playing your game anymore."

Zuko was about to turn away before a hand gripped his shoulder and forced him back around to face the Watanabe. This time three one hundred bills were in his hand.

"You '_done'_ with this much?" Jet questioned with a small glare, which was, quickly soothed out by a smile when Zuko clenched his hand around the paper bills. Jet walked away with a glint in his eyes.

Yamaguchi sighed as he ran a hand through his raven hair and quickly pocketed the money. He didn't want to do it for this, but he had to figure out a way for Kat to like him again, with or without the money. Needless to say, she was driving him crazy.

**水土火气水土火气水土火气水土火气**

Katara walked leisurely down an isle of a local book store; her fingertips gently touching the tips of scrolls and hard covers of books. Her head nodded lightly to the Rainbenders latest album playing through her headphones.

Her fingertips stopped at a scroll and she moved closer to discern the contents of the scroll. "Hidden Techniques of the Waterbending Art", intrigued, Katara took out the scroll and opened it gently. Her eyes quickly scanned the bending forms and she quirked an eyebrow at the complexity.

From a distance, Zuko stood and watched Katara delve into an aging scroll. For once, he didn't quite know what he should do. His confidence and self-assurance seemed to plummet drastically when it came to all things "Kat". In a way, she seemed to be miles away from society and a hundreds of miles away from him. Fed up with his thoughts, Zuko swore under his breath and quickly made his way towards Katara.

Katara could easily feel a heated presence behind her.

Zuko coughed to get her attention. "Excuse me, ah, have you seen The Dancing Dragon? I've lost my copy."

Katara froze and fixed a glare on her face. Without turning around, she grumbled, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard there would be a poetry reading. Didn't wanna miss it."

Katara clutched the scroll, before remembering its value and quickly rolling it up. She turned fiercely to face him; fists clenched tightly at her sides. "You're so –"

"Sexy?"

Katara turned and began to walk away, making sure to give him the finger.

"Already, woman? I thought we were gonna take this slow."

The Waterbender scoffed and continued to walk away. "You can take it slow with your left hand."

Zuko smirked. "And you'll do the same? I'll give you a photo so you can remember how handsome I am."

"I'll burn it."

A real smile reached Zuko's face this time. "You know, you're not as mean as you think you are."

"And you're not as badass as you think you are." Katara rolled her eyes. Her fingertips once again trailed the tips of the organized scrolls. She mindlessly picked one up that was titled, "Dancing Dragon".

"Ooo, someone still has their panties in a twist."

Katara made a noise of disgust. "Please, don't for one minute think you had any effect whatsoever on the state of my panties."

Zuko came to an abrupt stop. "Okay. Then what did I have an effect on?"

"Nothing. Well maybe my gag reflex has been worked a little more lately." Katara walked towards the door. She turned around and handed him a copy of the Dancing Dragon before she left.

* * *

**A/N:** Hello, everyone. It's been over a year since I last updated. I really wasn't going to continue this and I'm still not sure (my schedule is insane right now), but now I'm co-writing the rest of the fan fiction with **Ldrmas**. We'll be writing this together and hopefully finishing the rest of the fan fiction. So, if you're still here...enjoy. Or re-read the fan fiction and try to remember the plot.


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